ISTANBUL (AA): The ritual of feeding intermittently during Ramadan, brings youth and health to the body as it leads to repair of cells, provided that sufficient fluid is taken during the hours when eating is free, according to a Turkish expert.
Professor Şebnem Kılıç Gültekin, head of the Immunology Working Group of the National Allergy and Clinical Immunology Association of Türkiye (AID), stated that the beneficial effects of fasting on health had become quite clear after they studied the “intermittent fasting” diet.
Explaining that when meals are interrupted for 14 to 16 hours, antioxidant defense mechanisms come into play, Gültekin stated that DNA repair begins in the cells and autophagy, which is the body’s way of cleaning damaged cells in order to obtain new and healthier cells, which takes place after a long period of fasting.
Gültekin stated that this break given to food plays an important role in the destruction of misfolded or clustered proteins, the cleaning of damaged organelles and the elimination of intracellular pathogens.
“Staying hungry for a long time leads to improvement in brain functions, and an increase in learning and memory capacity. Ketone bodies, which occur as a result of the breakdown of fat cells after long fasting, delay the aging of our brain and body and play an important role in the active functioning of metabolism.”
Gültekin stated that being hungry for a long time also leads to partial improvement in the complaints of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s patients.
“This situation also reduces the risk of obesity, rheumatological diseases and cancer. It has been shown that this way of nutrition in patients receiving chemotherapy responds better to treatment,” Gültekin said.
“The intermittent nutrition ritual brought by Ramadan brings youth and health to the body by repairing the cells, provided that sufficient fluid is taken during the free hours of eating. Most importantly, our immune system takes advantage of this and performs annual maintenance of our body.”
