Fasting for just three days can regenerate entire immune system: study

Starving the body stimulates the stem cells into producing new white blood cells that can then fight off infection.

In what can be described as a major scientific breakthrough, scientists have discovered that fasting for just three days could regenerate the immune system of the human body. What’s more, this is possible even for the elderly.

This new study provides evidence that starving the body stimulates the stem cells into producing new white blood cells that can then fight off infection. Experts claim that this discovery would be extremely beneficial for people having damaged immune systems, for example, cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy. Scientists at the University of Southern California explain that fasting “flips a regenerative switch” which leads to the creation of new white blood cells thereby regenerating the immune system completely.

As part of the study, participants were asked to regularly fast for between two and four days over a six-month period, reports the Telegraph. It was found that prolonged fasting not only caused white blood cell production but also reduced the enzyme PKA, which is connected to ageing and a hormone that raises cancer risk and tumour growth.