Fasting for two to four days can help your body’s ability to fight off diseases and infection, says a new study.
This study was published in the journal Cell Stem Cell.
Usually people associate fasting with a spiritual experience, but it also has benefits for physical wellbeing, according to Tech Times. Prolonged fasting can help the body’s immune system as the body ages.
Researchers from the University of Southern California found that fasting for a few days can prompt the body to conserve energy and destroy the weak immune cells.
According to Science Recorder, researchers also found that the protection of white blood cell loss took place in those who fasted for a 72 hour period before going in for chemotherapy.
Fasting generally lowers the body’s white blood cell count, but once you begin eating again the body restores the white blood cells. The entire process regenerates the immune system.
"We discovered that this effect, which may have evolved to reduce energy expenditure during periods of starvation, is able to switch stem cells to a mode able to not only regenerate immune cells and reverse the immunosuppression caused by chemotherapy, but also rejuvenate the immune system of old mice," said a study researcher, Valter Longo.