Scientists prove the usefulness of hunger

Tomorrow– Moderate hunger alters metabolism and changes the daily rhythm, leading to improved health and reduced risk of age-related diseases, scientists at the University of California at Irvine found.

Hunger affects the daily rhythm of the body's internal clock, which regulates most processes of metabolism and hormone production in order to regulate the activity of each cell, researchers reported in a report. article in the journal Cell Reports.

A study was conducted on laboratory mice having eaten no food within 24 hours. The researchers noted that hungry mice consumed a small amount of oxygen and energy. The ratio between inhaled carbon dioxide and inhaled oxygen decreased and, when they fueled, all of these observations disappeared.

The researchers also noted that hunger affects the work of genes and proteins essential to the daily rhythm. They have been shown to reduce the activity of BMAL and REV-ERBa proteins, which determine the daily functioning of the liver and skeletal muscles.

"Hunger reproduces a series of cellular interactions, which positively reflects health and inhibits the development of diseases and aging," commented Professor Paolo Sassoni-Corsi of the UCI School of Medicine.