Intermittent fasting for an average of greater than 40-year-olds was associated with a lower risk of COVID-19, measured as a composite of hospitalisation or mortality after COVID-19 diagnosis, a recent study says. The study, published by BMJ Nutrition, Prevention & Health, also says routine intermittent fasting is associated with a lower risk of hospitalisation or mortality in patients with COVID-19 fasting is associated with a lower risk of hospitalisation or mortality in patients with COVID-19.
As per the study, intermittent fasting should be further evaluated for potential short-term and long-term preventive or therapeutic use as a complementary approach to vaccines and antiviral therapies for reducing COVID-19 severity.
“Due to these direct and indirect impacts of fasting on infectious disease outcomes, it is hypothesised that periodic fasting is associated with lower COVID-19 severity in people infected by SARS-CoV-2,” says the study.
Fasting reduces the cytokine cascade during periods of dietary restriction, promotes autophagy, and changes the metabolic source of energy from glucose to lipids, especially by raising the levels of circulating free fatty acids like linoleic acid. In a sample of nearly 2,000 patients, intermittent fasting has previously been linked to lower mortality and lower HF incidence.
The body uses autophagy to eliminate unhealthy cells so that it can replace them with new, healthier ones. Auto signifies oneself, and phagy refers to eating. Autophagy therefore means “self-eating” in its literal sense.
Intermittent fasting has been linked to increased survival and a decreased risk of heart failure, coronary artery disease, and type 2 diabetes. Repeated fasting increases baseline levels of several parameters related to inflammation regulation and host defence against infections, notably galectin-3.
This study’s main goal was to determine whether intermittent fasting is linked to the severe COVID-19 outcomes of hospitalisation and mortality after SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19 diagnosis in the individuals. Testing if intermittent fasting can anticipate the beginning of COVID-19 was a secondary goal.
Two survey questions that asked about intermittent fasting and, if ever, how long patients had ever fasted regularly during their lifetimes were the basis for the definition of intermittent fasting. 15 Patients who never fasted regularly or who quit their fasting habit before completing the survey were considered to be not fasting. Intermittent fasting was considered routine fasting for five years or longer.
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