{"id":4143,"date":"2024-02-09T09:35:10","date_gmt":"2024-02-09T14:35:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/dailycupofwellness\/?p=4143"},"modified":"2024-02-09T09:35:10","modified_gmt":"2024-02-09T14:35:10","slug":"how-rishi-sunaks-fasting-style-may-protect-against-parkinsons-and-alzheimers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/dailycupofwellness\/2024\/02\/how-rishi-sunaks-fasting-style-may-protect-against-parkinsons-and-alzheimers.html","title":{"rendered":"How Rishi Sunak’s Fasting Style May Protect Against Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Marcin Malicki\/Shutterstock.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Cambridge scientists may have found a new way in which fasting helps reduce inflammation, a potentially damaging side effect of the body\u2019s immune system that underlines several chronic diseases like Parkinson\u2019s and Alzheimer\u2019s. Fasting increases levels of a chemical in the blood known as arachidonic acid, which inhibits inflammation. The researchers believe it may also help explain some of the beneficial effects of drugs like aspirin.<\/p>\n

For some time, scientists have known that our diet, particularly a high-calorie Western diet, can increase our risk of diseases, including heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and obesity, which are linked to chronic inflammation in the body. Inflammation is our body\u2019s natural response to injury or infection, but this process can be triggered by other mechanisms, including the so-called \u201cinflammasome,\u201d which acts like an alarm within our body\u2019s cells, triggering inflammation to help protect our body when it senses damage.<\/p>\n

However, the inflammasome can trigger inflammation in unintentional ways: one of its functions is to destroy unwanted cells, which can result in the release of the cell\u2019s contents into the body, where they trigger inflammation. Professor Clare Bryant from the Department of Medicine at the University of Cambridge said, \u201cWe\u2019re very interested in trying to understand the causes of chronic inflammation in the context of many human diseases, and in particular, the role of the inflammasome. What\u2019s become apparent over recent years is that one inflammasome in particular \u2013 the NLRP3 inflammasome \u2013 is very important in a number of major diseases such as obesity and atherosclerosis, but also in diseases like Alzheimer\u2019s and Parkinson\u2019s disease, many of the diseases of older age people, particularly in the Western world.\u201d<\/p>\n