Valter Longo's work has shown that fasting causes a destruction of immune cells that get renewed from progenitors (absent the autoimmunity) after the refeeding phase. The mechanism has been shown to help with an animal model of multiple sclerosis called experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis.

It's a very elegant, most likely conserved mechanism that may generalize to virtually all diseases of autoimmunity and not just multiple sclerosis. However, that obviously needs to be proven clinically before you can say that and it might take a while.

Also, the conversion of animal research to human has another challenge: rodents have a faster metabolism. To have any hope of recapitulating those type of effects, you really have to go a while without food.

There seems to be a more medically safe way of probably tapping into mostly identical effects though, which is a "fasting-mimicking diet." Ultra low calorie, fits a specific macronutrient profile.

Read the show notes for this episode or watch the video... https://www.foundmyfitness.com/episodes/valter-longo-2

Thanks, couldn't have said it better myself.

I was initially pretty concerned about the safety of water-only fasting. It appeared so extreme. After spending two weeks fasting with others who are either ill with different conditions or very healthy, I realized that it's relatively safe given good medical supervision.

When fasting on my own, I haven't fasted longer than 5 days, and I know what to watch out for now:

- I check my blood pressure and heart rate every morning

- I get up very slowly (as you can get light headed and fall if you're not careful)

- I bathe without taking a hot shower or submerge my body in hot water as this can lead to low blood pressure as well.

thanks, but I still don't get: aren't most allergies due to hereditary factors? If so why would they be cured by resetting the immune system?

Some people are allergic to so many things, with such sensitivity, that nearly all foods contain some percentage of something they're allergic to (even if it's only trace amounts). In that case, consuming nothing but water effectively assures a food allergy-free experience for the duration of the fast. If they're allergic to things found in water as well, then I'm not sure what the best solution is.

I actually drink distilled or deionized water during my fasts. This is what was available on my first long fast and I've done it since.