New research published in the scientific journal Immunity shows that intermittent fasting, or IF, could do more than help you fit into those old jeans. In fact, the scientists say, it can help your body kill off cancerous tumors.
At issue are what scientists have dubbed NK, or natural killer, cells. These are cells that, as their name suggests, go about hunting down and killing bad stuff in your body — particularly cells that can form into cancer.
Intermittent fasting forces your body to look inward for other forms of fuel, since it’s being starved of the normal stuff you eat, which is converted into glucose. One aspect of this is known to IF devotees — your body goes after your fat stores for food.
But in a study using mice, the scientists noted that the NK cells did the same, and since tumors are normally protected by fatty acids, the NK cells’ drive to consume fatty acids in part primed them to attack tumors in a way they normally couldn’t.
The intermittent fasting “really optimizes their anti-cancer response because … now they’re able enter the tumor and survive better because of this metabolic training,” says study lead author Dr. Rebecca Delconte.
More study is needed to see how the mice study relates to humans, but as the scientists concluded, dietary restriction has the “potential to enhance immunotherapy strategies” when it comes to fighting the big C.