In a three-year follow-up study of adults over 60 years old, intermittent fasting just a couple times a week was shown to naturally reduce inflammation and boost natural anti-aging processes.
Intermittent fasting is one of the easiest ways of building muscle, decreasing body fat and increasing your energy. And by triggering the cellular cleansing process of autophagy, intermittent fasting also improves your life span – and makes your skin look smoother and younger.
This study from Japan showed that not only does fasting speed up metabolism, it may also reverse the ageing process. The study on 'what exactly happens when the body goes without food' was conducted by researchers from the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University (OIST) and Kyoto University.
According to GloriousWellness, intermittent fasting switches on DNA-repair genes that help reduce inflammation in the body. This helps the skin to heal and repair as cells are renewed more rapidly. Plus production of a hormone called somatropin increases, helping to minimise wrinkles and fine lines.
Studies have shown that fasting can lower levels of inflammatory markers in the body, which could help to improve these conditions,” he said. “Fasting can also promote cellular repair and regeneration, which is crucial for maintaining healthy, youthful-looking skin.
Intermittent fasting is fantastic for weight loss and may prevent aging skin for other reasons. Intermittent fasting makes your skin healthy and lends it a glow, because it lowers down your blood sugar levels, improves your insulin sensitivity. Your skin health is also connected to your mental health.
Similar to how our bodies can eat away at unnecessary skin cells from loose skin through the process of autophagy, the appearance of aging is also slowed (and many say can even be reversed to an extent) when we activate this mechanism of clearing out old cellular parts – therefore revealing more youthful, vibrant skin.
“Think of autophagy as a Roomba inside your cells, cleaning and clearing damaged parts,” says Whittel. “When autophagy functions optimally, it works to clear away the cellular junk that can lead to fat and wrinkles.”
London based nutritionist, Kim Pearson, believes so. Speaking at the Facial Aesthetic Conference and Exhibition (FACE), she explained that after a 4-5 days of fasting the body starts to clean out the dead cells and boost its new stem cell production. The result: fresher looking skin.
Eating fewer calories appears to slow the pace of aging and increase longevity in healthy adults, according to a study published Thursday in the journal Nature Aging.
Intermittent fasting gets rid of facial fat and increases insulin sensitivity. Intermittent fasting helps shed unwanted pounds all over the body, including smaller cheeks and neck. Facial fat may be the first indicator that a person is developing insulin resistance or is pre-diabetic and at risk for diabetes.
Experts agree that the autophagy process initiates in humans after 18-20 hours of fasting, with max benefits occurring once the 48-72 hour mark has been reached.
Children are not obliged to fast until they are about 11 or 12 years old. From an early age, however, they join the celebratory meals in the evenings, and they watch adults around them fasting through the day.
Fasting caused a similar decrease of the relative rate of collagen production by parietal bone (24% of control) which makes primarily type I collagen, as in cartilage (26% of control), which synthesizes mainly type I1 collagen.
Specifically, intermittent fasting can trigger autophagy, a "self-cleaning" process that clears out old, damaged cells and proteins to make room for new, healthy ones. And autophagy comes with loads of potential benefits1 , including enhanced brain health, blood sugar control—and, yep, glowing skin.
Autophagy supports skin health by promoting the removal of damaged cells and aiding in the regeneration of healthy skin cells. It can help tighten loose skin and improve elasticity, reducing the appearance of wrinkles and maintaining a more youthful complexion.
Autophagy speeds the process of cell renewal and increases the rate collagen is produced.
Autophagy (self-eating) is a conserved catabolic homeostatic process required for cellular metabolic demands by removal of the damaged molecules and organelles and for alleviation of stress initiated by pathology and infection. By such actions, autophagy is essential for the prevention of aging, disease, and cancer.
Autophagy itself is not always positive. Studies have shown that excessive autophagy may kill cells in the heart, and scientists have linked excessive autophagy to some heart problems. Research has also found that inhibiting autophagy in mice could limit tumor growth and improve responsiveness to cancer treatment.
Be sure to fast for at least 16-18 hours per day to see the benefits of cellular recycling. There are at least 2 things you can do to help your cells increase autophagy: High-intensity exercise and intermittent fasting.
The type of fasting needed to jumpstart autophagy typically requires 14 to 16 hours without eating, though this is dependent on your body's metabolism. Start small and work your way up when you decide to start fasting for health reasons.
The short answer is no, intermittent fasting does not have any proven benefits to causing hair growth, however, if the diet is undertaken properly it can over time cause hair to become stronger and healthier. In many cases, those who start intermittent fasting can actually experience temporary hair loss.
This pattern of eating can help your skin look and feel great. You may experience smoother, younger skin due to the anti-aging effects and increased autophagy benefits.