Key points from article :
Intermittent fasting (IF) not also promotes weight loss but also boost immunity and help combat disease.
IF forces fat break down to produce an alternative fuel source called ketones.
A study on mice showed that immune cells more effectively fend off infections or cancer when using ketones as an energy source.
Genes of effective T cells found to have increased activity in breaking down ketones, indicating that they derived energy from ketones.
Scientists compared infection fighting response between normal mice that could break down ketones and engineered mice that couldn't.
Normal mice had 50% more cytokines (produced by T cells) to kill off pathogens than the engineered animals.
Ability to break down ketones made T cells more effective at fighting off infections in mice.
When injected cancerous cells, tumours in engineered mice were twice the size of those in normal mice.
Dietary interventions that boost ketone production, such as IF, may affect our ability to fight off infections and cancer.
Corresponding author, Russell Jones, cautions that not all ketone-producing diets have the same effects.
Study by Van Andel Institute, published in Immunity.
