Authors: Alyssa Nimmons, Vincent S. Gallicchio.
Tracing back to the first civilizations, there has always been a drive to live longer healthier lives, to cheat death. As potions and prayers gave way to science, deeper understanding of the body’s chemicals and processes encouraged people to manipulate them in a quest to avoid disease. With the awareness and comprehension of stem cells, new questions arose, many of which were directed at how we might control stem cells that exist throughout the body to our benefit, or how we might utilize them to prevent or manage illness. An increasing number of studies appear to point to the ability of stem cells to regenerate through fasting, which could have potentially far-reaching implications in future approaches towards medical applications. The beneficial effects of fasting – though numerous – do not, however, include stem cell regeneration; instead, it is the cumulative effects of many of our body’s other mechanisms that tend to work together in rejuvenating cells of all types. Further, it is misleading to think that fasting will benefit every person in every situation, as it comes with its own complications and as such, is only recommended in very specific circumstances.
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