Metabolic Response to Daytime Dry Fasting in Bahá'í Volunteers-Results of a Preliminary Study

Each year in March, adherents of the Bahá'í faith abstain from eating and drinking from sunrise to sunset for 19 days. Thus, Bahá'í fasting (BF) can be considered as a form of daytime dry fasting. We investigated whether BF decreased energy expenditure after a meal and whether it improved...

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Published in:	Nutrients Vol. 14; no. 1; p. 148
Main Authors:	Mähler, Anja, Jahn, Carmen, Klug, Lars, Klatte, Caroline, Michalsen, Andreas, Koppold-Liebscher, Daniela, Boschmann, Michael
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	Switzerland MDPI AG 29-12-2021 MDPI
Subjects:	Adipose tissue Adipose Tissue - metabolism Adult Anthropometry Blood Blood glucose Body Composition Body fat Body mass Body mass index Body size Body weight Calorimetry Cohort Studies Daytime daytime dry fasting Dialysate Energy Energy expenditure Energy metabolism Energy Metabolism - physiology Fasting Fasting - physiology Glucose Glucose - metabolism Glycerol Humans Insulin Insulin Resistance Lipids Lipolysis Male Metabolic response Metabolism Metabolites Microdialysis Muscles Oxidation Oxidation-Reduction Perfusion Postprandial Period Religion religious fasting Skeletal muscle Sunrise Sunset Thermogenesis Weight Loss Weight reduction religious fasting body composition microdialysis energy expenditure daytime dry fasting
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Summary:	Each year in March, adherents of the Bahá'í faith abstain from eating and drinking from sunrise to sunset for 19 days. Thus, Bahá'í fasting (BF) can be considered as a form of daytime dry fasting. We investigated whether BF decreased energy expenditure after a meal and whether it improved anthropometric measures and systemic and tissue-level metabolic parameters. This was a self-controlled cohort study with 11 healthy men. We measured anthropometric parameters, metabolic markers in venous blood and pre- and postprandial energy metabolism at systemic (indirect calorimetry) and tissue (adipose tissue and skeletal muscle microdialysis) level, both before and during BF. During BF, we found reduced body weight, body mass index, body fat and blood glucose. Postprandial increase in energy expenditure was lower and diet-induced thermogenesis tended to be lower as well. In adipose tissue, perfusion, glucose supply and lipolysis were increased. In skeletal muscle, tissue perfusion did not change. Glucose supply and lipolysis were decreased. Glucose oxidation was increased, indicating improved insulin sensitivity. BF may be a promising approach to losing weight and improving metabolism and health. However, outside the context of religiously motivated fasting, skipping a meal in the evening (dinner cancelling) might be recommended, as metabolism appeared to be reduced in the evening.
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 These authors contributed equally to this work.
ISSN:	2072-6643 2072-6643
DOI:	10.3390/nu14010148