Can Intermittent Fasting Cause Diabetes?
Written by: Brad Pilon
Intermittent Fasting has become VERY popular in the main stream media over the last 6 months.
These things happen in cycles, the last time being around 2013.
In 2013, when Intermittent Fasting was a big topic in the news, we had all sorts of crazy stories about the ‘miracles’ of IF.
Then, as a result, we had the backlash, with clickbait articles about the dangers of IF, including IF not being good for women.
So now, Fasting is Big Again, so please be aware, the negative information will be coming again…
As an example, lets talk about the recent reports that fasting now causes Diabetes.
This comes from absolutely reckless and irresponsible reporting, using information gleaned from a poster presentation at a conference, not a published or reviewed study.
The study in question was also performed on Wistar Rats and they didn’t actually measure whether or not the rats had become diabetic. Importantly there as also no mention of a control group.
[[ As a note, please keep in mind my conflicts of interest are obvious, so I’m trying to report the facts as best I can, but keep in mind, I can’t help but have biases in this regard ]]
As we’ve discussed earlier, longer fasts (48 plus hours) can cause temporary and transient insulin resistance in humans, as it takes some time to switch from ‘fat burning’ to ‘glucose burning’ when your blood is high in free fatty acids.
The important point from these findings is that the insulin resistance induced by 48 hours of fasting is not associated with changes in three diabetes linked genes – Calpain 3, calpaan 10 and DARP, suggesting that it is mediated by increased blood FFA and NOT a change in insulin signalling / handling.
Finally, please do not let a single presentation on rats alter your reality. We should always be diligent, questioning what we think we know, but we should be just as cautious with bad news as we are with overly good news.
But at the same time, it is our duty to point out fake truths, otherwise they become reality .
Stay even keel on this – Fasting is a tool we use. It’s not magic, you don’t get to gorge on pizza and burgers just because you fast. However, from the human research, at this time it seems very unlikely that fasting will cause diabetes.
Read also – Should men treat diabetes differently than women?
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