Written By: Longjam Dineshwori | Updated : February 25, 2023 1:40 PM IST
Caring for the newborn can be exhausting, and skipping meals is a non-negotiable deal. The first meal, i.e. breakfast, is the most crucial of the day, and it has to be super nutritious to ensure that it gives us sufficient energy throughout the day. Some good breakfast options are oats with fruits, Scrambled eggs, Brown Poha, Daliya Upma, and Healthy sandwiches.
There is abundant evidence supporting the benefits of fasting. But a new study has cautioned that fasting may also pose a health risk. It suggested that fasting may negatively affect the immune system and increase the risk for heart disease. The effects were observed even when skipping breakfast.
In the study on mouse models, researchers at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai found that skipping meals can trigger a response in the brain that negatively affects immune cells. Based on these findings, they suggested that chronic fasting may cause long-term effects on the body. The results were published in the February 23 issue of Immunity.
To understand how fasting affects the immune system, the researchers analyzed two groups of mice: One group were given breakfast right after waking up and the other group were made to skipped breakfast. Blood samples were collected from both the groups soon after waking up, then four hours later, and eight hours later.
When blood reports were compared, they saw a difference in the number of monocytes, which are white blood cells that play crucial roles in fighting infections, heart disease, and cancer. Monocytes are produced in the bone marrow and from there, they travel through the body.
All mice had the same number of monocytes at baseline. But after four hours, 90 per cent of the monocytes disappeared from the bloodstream in fasting mice. The number further declined at eight hours. However, the number of monocytes in the non-fasting group remained unaffected, according to the researchers.
Further, the researchers found that the monocytes traveled back to the bone marrow to hibernate in fasting mice, and simultaneously, production of new cells diminished.
When the mice were reintroduced food after 24 hours of fasting, the monocytes hiding in the bone marrow moved back into the bloodstream within a few hours. This sudden surge monocytes in the bloodstream led to heightened level of inflammation. The altered monocytes were no longer protecting against infection, and the body became less resistant to infection.
The study also examined the connection between the brain and monocytes during fasting. They observed that fasting elicits a stress response in the brain, which instantly triggers a large-scale migration of monocytes from the blood to the bone marrow, and then back to the bloodstream shortly after food is reintroduced. This stress response to fasting also makes people "hangry" (feeling hungry and angry), the experts noted.
The risks associated with fasting arises after the reintroduction of food as it leads to a surge of monocytes flooding back to the blood. This way fasting may affect the body's capacity to respond to an infection, the researchers stated.
