A new study reveals worrying side effects associated with intermittent fasting: According to researchers from Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, this diet increases the risk of dying from cardiovascular disease by 91 percent.
Intermittent fasting, also called short-term fasting or intermittent fasting, is considered a healthy way to lose or maintain weight. For this purpose, certain breaks are taken between meals. In some species they even go a whole day without food. In addition to the effect on the figure, this form of fasting is also said to prevent diabetes, promote the renewal and recycling of damaged cells and improve sugar and fat metabolism. That is why this diet has gained popularity in recent years.
The 16:8 method is central to the research
But a recent study suggests there are also dangerous aspects to this diet. The Shanghai scientists found that those who fasted in this way had a significantly higher risk of dying from heart disease. Specifically, the researchers investigated the 16:8 method, in which you can eat for eight hours a day and do not have to eat for sixteen hours. The subjects had a 91 percent higher risk of dying from heart disease than people who followed the traditional diet for 12 to 16 hours.
This risk also existed in people who already suffered from a chronic illness or cancer. People with pre-existing cardiovascular disease who practiced intermittent fasting had a 66 percent higher risk of dying from heart disease or stroke – compared to cancer patients who ate food for at least 16 hours a day.
Study author: ‘What you eat seems more important’
The study’s lead author, Victor Wenze Zhong, therefore advised people with existing heart disease or cancer to be “extremely cautious” when using intermittent fasting. “Based on the evidence so far, it seems more important to focus on what people eat rather than when they eat,” the scientist told The Washington Post.
The researchers themselves were surprised by the results of the study. “We expected that the long-term implementation of an eight-hour food restriction would be associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular deaths and even overall deaths,” Zhong said. The study provided no information about why the risk of death increased with intermittent fasting. What was striking, however, was that the intermittent faster runners had less muscle mass than the control group
Source: Krone
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