Intermittent fasting: slow hair growth despite health benefits!

Intermittent fasting: slow hair growth despite health benefits!

Studies show the risks of intermittent fasting

A new study has revealed alarming findings about intermittent fasting, also known as interval fasting. This nutritional model, which involves fixed meal times and periods of fasting, could have unexpected side effects on hair growth. According to research by Bing Zhang and his team at Westlake University in China, mice show slower hair growth when they follow a strict eating regimen. The mice that were fasting only partially grew back after 96 days, while their fed counterparts were able to fully regrow their fur after just 30 days. The results suggest that intermittent fasting negatively affects hair follicle stem cells (HFSCs) as they suffer oxidative stress from switching to fat as an energy source and then have to self-destruct. These important cells are crucial for hair growth, which underlines the relevance of this study to nutrition, as well bihealth.org reports.

The study, published in the journal Nature Metabolism, expands our knowledge of the body's responses to prolonged periods of fasting. While it was already known that the body switches from sugar to fat, the new findings show that the human body undergoes profound changes in the protein composition of the blood after about three days without food. The participants in a seven-day water fast lost an average of 5.7 kg, primarily through a reduction in muscle and organ mass. Interestingly, the loss of some body fat continued, while the weight returned much more quickly after returning to a normal diet. According to Claudia Langenberg from the Charité, it is clear that not only intermittent fasting, but also other forms of fasting have significant physiological consequences that could be relevant to health, as also by today.at reports.