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Anti-inflammatory benefits: fasting found to reduce risk of many diseases

Calorie restriction silences the NLRP3 inflammasome, a key driver of inflammation

30-Jan-2024

Key points from article :

Restricting calorie intake raises arachidonic acid, a blood lipid that inhibits inflammation.

Inflammasome in response to injury/infection can sometimes trigger unwanted inflammation.

“The NLRP3 inflammasome is very important in a number of diseases such as obesity, atherosclerosis, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease,” - Clare Bryant, corresponding study author.

Researchers studied blood samples from 21 volunteers, who ate a 500kcal meal and fasted for 24 hours before the next 500kcal meal.

Found that fasting reduces NLRP3 inflammasome activity, likely due to increased arachidonic acid.

Regular fasting might help reduce chronic inflammation associated with aging.

High fat diets may increase inflammasome activity, while fasting decreases it.

Arachidonic acid may explain how aspirin reduces inflammation through a similar mechanism.

Study by University of Cambridge, published in Cell Reports.

Mentioned in this article:

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Cell Reports

Journal publishing research papers across a broad range of disciplines within the life sciences

Clare Bryant

Professor of Innate Immunity at the University of Cambridge

University of Cambridge

Collegiate research university in Cambridge, United Kingdom

Topics mentioned on this page:
Intermittent Fasting (IF), Inflammaging
Anti-inflammatory benefits: fasting found to reduce risk of many diseases