Fasting before embarking on a new diet could help you get better results by boosting healthy bacteria in the gut, research finds
- Studied 71 people who were obese, diabetic and had high blood pressure
- Half went on a diet after five days fasting and five just did the diet
- Those who fasted lost more weight and had a lower blood pressure, data shows
Fasting for five days before starting a new diet can help kickstart the transformation of a person’s body, according to a new study.
The period of restricted intake causes significant changes to an individual’s immune system and gut microbiome, which enhances the benefits of weight loss.
In the study, the researchers showed that people who fast before starting a Mediterranean-style diet for three months lose more weight and have a lower BMI that those who do not, while also seeing their blood pressure drop.
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Fasting for five days before starting a new diet can help kickstart the transformation of a person’s body, according to a new study
‘Switching to a healthy diet has a positive effect on blood pressure,’ says Andras Maifeld, lead author of the study from the Experimental and Clinical Research Center (ECRC) in Berlin.
‘If the diet is preceded by a fast, this effect is intensified.’
Researchers from Germany recruited 71 people who suffer from metabolic syndrome — the name of the condition given to people who have diabetes, are obese and also have high blood pressure.
All were put on a diet plan called DASH (Dietary Approach to Stop Hypertension) by a team of experts for a three month period.
It is centred around the popular Mediterranean diet and includes fruit and vegetables, wholemeal products, nuts and pulses, fish and lean white meat.
But one half of the study participants were also instructed to fast for five days before starting the new regime.
The main finding, the researchers say, is the long-term impact the fasting has on lowering blood pressure from elevated levels.
Almost half (43 per cent) of people who were in the fasting cohort were able to reduce their medication which they were previously prescribed for high blood pressure. For the non-fasting group, this figure was just 17 per cent.
Those who fasted also lost more weight than people who did not fast but did the same diet.
BMI in the fasting group dropped from around 34 to 32 in three months – a statistically significant decline.
For the non-fasting group, there was no discernible difference to either metric.
Immune system response and the gut microbiome were closely monitored via blood tests and stool samples, respectively, as well as the people being regularly weighed.
The traditional Mediterranean diet includes lots of vegetables, fruits, beans, and whole grains. It is also abundant in healthy fats like olive oil. It contains moderate amounts of fish, white meat and some dairy, and very little sugar and red meat
It revealed that during fasting, the production of a beneficial gut bacteria which breaks down fibre to make anti-inflammatory chemicals is increased.
Other changes help reduce high blood pressure as the number of good bacteria multiply rapidly.
The researchers found that even after the five-day fasting window had ended and the person began eating solid foods again, the positive changes remained.
‘Body mass index, blood pressure and the need for antihypertensive medication remained lower in the long term among volunteers who started the healthy diet with a five-day fast,’ explains Dr Dominik Müller, co-author of the study.