Skipping breakfast can compromise your immune system and therefore increase your risk of infections, heart disease and even cancer. The data are from a new study by the Icahn School of Medicine, at Mount Sinai Hospital, in the United States.
“There is a growing awareness that fasting is healthy, and indeed there is abundant evidence for the benefits of fasting. Our study provides a word of caution, as it suggests that there may also be a cost to fasting, which carries a health risk.” “, says the lead author of the research, Filip Swirski, in a statement.
To understand how fasting affects the immune system, the scientists looked at two groups of mice. One of them had breakfast right after waking up, while the other did not.
When examining the blood tests of the two sets, they noticed that the number of monocytes (white blood cells produced in the bone marrow responsible for defending the organism against foreign bodies) dropped dramatically in the fasting group after four hours of experiment.
Scientists discovered that 90% of these cells disappeared from the bloodstream, reaching an even more drastic picture after eight hours of fasting.
Meanwhile, the mice that ate breakfast remained with the same number of monocytes.
After 24 hours without eating, the researchers reintroduced the meal into the fasting group’s routine.
The cells, which were at an all-time low, returned to the bloodstream within hours. However, instead of monocytes playing the protective role they had, they were altered and caused a high level of inflammation.
This means that instead of protecting against infections, they were lowering the body’s resistance to disease.
In short, the researchers found that there are specific brain regions responsible for the monocyte response during fasting. However, skipping the first meal of the day puts stress on the brain, which changes the common course of these white blood cells.
“The study shows that, on the one hand, fasting reduces the number of circulating monocytes, which can be considered good, since these cells are important components of inflammation. On the other hand, the reintroduction of food creates a surge of monocytes that return to the blood, which can be problematic,” explains Swirski.
“Since these cells are so important for other diseases, such as heart disease or cancer, it is essential to understand how their function is controlled”, concludes the researcher.
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