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Scientific research is finally validating the ancient health and healing practice of fasting. Scientists at the University of Southern California (USC) have discovered that fasting "for as little as three days can regenerate the entire immune system, even in the elderly”
Researchers suggest that the mechanism behind this phenomenon is that "starving the body kick-starts stem cells into producing new white blood cells, which fight off infection”. They found that fasting ‘flips a regenerative switch' which prompts stem cells to create brand new white blood cells, essentially regenerating the entire immune system.
Valter Longo, corresponding author of the study and a professor at the USC Davis School of Gerontology, stated: "When you starve, the system tries to save energy, and one of the things it can do to save energy is to recycle a lot of the immune cells that are not needed, especially those that may be damaged." Longo added, "With a system heavily damaged by chemotherapy or aging, fasting cycles can generate, literally, a new immune system. The fasting, whether for two or four days, drives the human body into a 'survival' mode in which it begins using up stores of sugar and fat and also breaks down old cells”.
