Scientists from Imperial College London found intermittent fasting changes gut bacteria activity and boosts the recovery from nerve damage.
They found how fasting led to the gut bacteria increasing production of a metabolite known as 3-Indolepropionic acid (IPA), which is required for regenerating nerve fibers called axons.
The team state that the bacteria that produce IPA, Clostridium sporogenesis, is found naturally in the guts of humans, as well as mice, and IPA, is present in human bloodstreams too.
The research is published in Nature and was conducted by Professor Simone Di Giovanni et al.
There is currently no treatment for people with nerve damage beyond surgical reconstruction, which is only effective in a small percentage of cases, prompting us to investigate whether changes in lifestyle could aid recovery.
Intermittent fasting has previously been linked by other studies to wound repair and the growth of new neurons—but this study is the first to explain exactly how fasting might help heal nerves.
In the study, the team assessed nerve regeneration of mice where the sciatic nerve, the longest nerve running from the spine down the leg, was crushed.
Half of the mice underwent intermittent fasting (by eating as much as they liked followed by not eating at all on alternate days), while the other half were free to eat with no restrictions at all.
These diets continued for a period of 10 days or 30 days before their operation, and the mice’s recovery was monitored 24 to 72 hours after the nerve was severed.
The team found the length of the regrown axons was measured and was about 50% greater in mice that had been fasting.
The researchers also studied how fasting led to this nerve regeneration. They found that there were significantly higher levels of specific metabolites, including IPA, in the blood of diet-restricted mice.
To confirm whether IPA led to nerve repair, the mice were treated with antibiotics to clean their guts of any bacteria.
They were then given genetically-modified strains of Clostridium sporogenesis that could or could not produce IPA.
The team found when IPA cannot be produced by these bacteria and it was almost absent in the serum, regeneration was impaired.
This suggests that the IPA generated by these bacteria has the ability to heal and regenerate damaged nerves.
Importantly, when IPA was administered to the mice orally after a sciatic nerve injury, regeneration and increased recovery were observed between two and three weeks after injury.
More studies will need to investigate whether IPA increases after fasting in humans and the efficacy of IPA and intermittent fasting as a potential treatment in people.
If you care about nutrition, please read studies about the best foods for brain health, and this diet could help reduce high blood pressure, diabetes.
For more information about nutrition, please see recent studies that cocoa could help protect your liver health, and results showing most Americans’ diets lack this essential nutrient.
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