Those who have regularly fasted intermittently for decades have a lower chance of being hospitalized or dying from COVID-19 compared to people who do not practice the eating plan, according to a new American study.
The small study, published July 1 in the peer-reviewed BMJ Nutrition, Prevention and Health, builds on previous research that examines the benefits of intermittent fasting.
Previous research suggests fasting not only helps burn fat, but offers health benefits as well. Studies have shown fasting can help control inflammation by reducing the amount of pro-inflammatory cells released into the blood. Fasting also triggers autophagy – a process by which the body breaks down and destroys old and damaged cells.
"There's a pocket on the surface of SARS-CoV-2 that linoleic acid fits into -- and can make the virus less able to attach to other cells,” according to Dr. Benjamin Horne, the director of cardiovascular and genetic epidemiology at Intermountain Healthcare and lead co-author of the paper. “This result was found in younger and older individuals, was present regardless of race or ethnicity, and did not depend on other cardiac risk factors, comorbidities or behaviours. Periodic fasting did not, however, predict whether or not a subject would be infected by SARS-CoV-2,” the authors wrote in the paper.Researchers also noted that prior to the availability of COVID-19 vaccines, Utah was one of only two U.S. states with a COVID-19 case fatality rate of less than one per cent.
The study said periodic fasting remained an independent predictor of a lower risk of hospitalization and mortality even after its analyses were adjusted for such factors including age, smoking, alcohol and ethnicity. The authors suggest the relatively higher rate of periodic fasting in Utah compared to other states may have contributed to the lower case fatality rates in the state.
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