Associated Press
WASHINGTON D.C., U.S.A., April 29, 2003: The health benefits of sharply cutting calories may occur after periodic fasting, even if the fast does not result in eating less overall, a new report indicates. Scientists are now planning a study to see if fasting, which seems to benefit mice, will also be good for people, too. Benefits ranging from longer life to less stress and greater sensitivity to insulin have been reported in recent studies of severe reductions in diet. The plan is to compare the health of a group of people fed the normal three meals a day with a similar group, eating the same diet and amount of food, but consuming it within four hours and then fasting for 20 hours before eating again. “Overeating is a big problem now in this country. It’s particularly troublesome that a lot of children are overweight. It’s still unclear the best way to somehow get people to eat less,” Mattson said. “One possibility is skipping a meal a day. Our study suggests that skipping meals is not bad for you.”