Increased fasting can lead to a longer life

There are all kinds of studies that indicate that eating or avoiding certain foods can prolong your life.

But the latest research suggests that daily fasting could also be beneficial.

Scientists discovered that mice enjoyed better health and longer life when they increased the time between their meals. It was true no matter what they ate or how many calories they consumed.

Their findings could eventually help researchers find ways to help people maintain a healthy weight and reduce age-related metabolic disorders.

"The increase in daily fasting times, with no reduction in calories and regardless of the type of diet consumed, has resulted in an overall improvement in health and survival in male mice," said researcher Rafael de Cabo, from the National Institute of Aging. "Perhaps this prolonged daily fast period allows for repair and maintenance mechanisms that would be absent during continued exposure to food."

Researchers divided nearly 300 mice into two groups, one eating fewer foods containing purified sugars and fats, and more protein and fiber.

Each group was then divided into three subgroups. A subgroup had access to food at all times. The second subgroup received 30% fewer calories than the first. And a third subgroup received a single meal equal in calories to the intake of the first subgroup.

Mice in the last two subgroups had longer life expectancy and liver disease and age-related metabolic disorders later in life. And the diet seems to have no effect.

The study was conducted by scientists from the National Institute of Aging, the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The results were published Thursday in the medical journal "Cell Metabolism".