Abstract
Dietary restriction has been shown to have several health benefits including increased insulin sensitivity, stress resistance, reduced morbidity, and increased life span. The mechanism remains unknown, but the need for a long-term reduction in caloric intake to achieve these benefits has been assumed. We report that when C57BL/6 mice are maintained on an intermittent fasting (alternate-day fasting) dietary-restriction regimen their overall food intake is not decreased and their body weight is maintained. Nevertheless, intermittent fasting resulted in beneficial effects that met or exceeded those of caloric restriction including reduced serum glucose and insulin levels and increased resistance of neurons in the brain to excitotoxic stress. Intermittent fasting therefore has beneficial effects on glucose regulation and neuronal resistance to injury in these mice that are independent of caloric intake.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 6216-6220 |
Number of pages | 5 |
Journal | Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America |
Volume | 100 |
Issue number | 10 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - May 13 2003 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- β-hydroxybutyrate
- Caloric restriction
- Hippocampus
- Insulin
- Ketosis
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Genetics
- General