With all of the praise
that fad diets receive in the media, it is easy to overlook the consequences that
they may have on the body. While scientists have proven that some programs are
a healthy and effective tool for weight-management, others remain unchallenged
and their potential risks remain unexamined. Within the last few years,
lifestyles like intermittent fasting have become more popular than well-known
fad diets like Nutrisystem and South Beach Diet. Intermittent fasting is
characterized by alternating periods of normal caloric intake and fasting.
While it provides its participants with many benefits, there is still a lot to
learn about it, leaving me concerned about potentially adverse effects on the
body. Specifically, I am concerned about its effect on the circadian rhythms of
the body and will address my concerns in this post using research on the
feeding behavior of Drosophila
melanogaster.
First,
I will explain how food intake is connected to circadian rhythms – a biological
clock in the body that is primarily controlled by periods of light and dark –
using research on Drosophila melanogaster,
or fruit flies. Researcher Austin
Dreyer with Loyola University Chicago studies how the feeding behavior of fruit
flies adheres to circadian rhythms. Because Dreyer has not yet published this
work, I will summarize the results of research that is similar to that of
Dreyer’s. Xu, Zheng, and Sehgal (2008) studied how the feeding behavior of
fruit flies relies on both neuronal and metabolic clocks. In their work, Xu et
al. (2008) found that metabolic clocks located in digestive tissues and fat
bodies regulates feeding rhythm. Flies that lack clocks in these tissues
exhibited peaks in feeding that started late in the cycle and lasted until the
next day, which is the opposite of normal feeding behavior; normal feeding
behavior follows a 12:12 pattern of light-dark cycles in which the flies feed early
in the cycle. More importantly, the researchers found that disrupted metabolic
clocks leads to a deficiency in energy storage and metabolism in the fat body and
an increase in food intake. As a result, the flies were less resistant to
starvation.
According
to Markham Heid in his article “What Is Intermittent Fasting and Is It Actually
Good for You,” intermittent fasting promotes “sustainable weight-loss” as well
as provides many health benefits to its participants like “protection from
diabetes, heart disease, and cancer.” As research continues on the subject, the
list of benefits continues to grow. However, Heid fails to mention the risks of
participating in intermittent fasting, which, to me, suggests that researchers
have not yet found any risks. This is where the fruit-flies come into play.
Although fruit flies do not look remotely similar to mammals – or humans –
their bodies perform similar processes to those of humans using analogous
structures. Remember how I told you that the fat body of fruit flies is
responsible for energy storage and metabolism? Well, the mammalian liver does
the same thing (Xu, Xheng, & Sehgal, 2008). Like I said before, Xu et al.
(2008) found that interrupted clocks alter food intake, and, as a result, the
body cannot control energy metabolism or storage, making the flies less
resistant to starvation. In the case of intermittent fasting, I am concerned
that altering food intake would alter the way that the metabolic clocks
function in humans, causing the body to lose control of energy metabolism. In
other words, does intermittent fasting alter the circadian rhythms of the body?
Are these changes detrimental, or will the body adapt over time? Although intermittent fasting provides participants with many health benefits, I think that the cellular
effects of intermittent fasting should be investigated using fruit flies in
order to determine whether it is actually beneficial to the body.
Xu, K., Zheng, X., Sehgal, A., (2008). Regulation of
Feeding and Metabolism by neuronal and peripheral clocks in Drosophila. Cell Metabolism,
8, 289-300.
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