This is about a month old study but I thought that it would be a good idea to give out this info on a study that had to conclude that fasting seems to lower the chance of heart attacks in people that fast one day a month. The anti-fasting people will not like this and I can not seem to fast for any length of time but this study was not looking for this result as some studies seem to do but instead just concluded that this was the only possible result to their study.
Mormons and heart disease
Mormons have less heart disease something doctors have long chalked up to their religion’s ban on smoking. New research suggests that another of their “clean living” habits also may be helping their hearts: fasting for one day each month.
A study in Utah, where the Mormons are is based, found that people who skipped meals once a month were about 40 percent less likely to be diagnosed with clogged arteries than those who did not regularly fast.
Fasting and improved health
People did not have to “get religion” to benefit: non-Mormons who regularly took breaks from food also were less likely to have clogged arteries, scientists found.
They concede that their study is far from proof that periodic fasting is good for anyone, but said the benefit they observed poses a theory that deserves further testing.
“It might suggest these are people who just control eating habits better,” and that this discipline extends to other areas of their lives that improves their health, said Benjamin Horne, a heart disease researcher from Intermountain Medical Center and the University of Utah in Salt Lake City.
In the 1970s, scientists recognized that Mormons in Utah are less likely to die of heart disease than other Americans.
Their prohibition against tobacco is usually credited for the health benefit, Horne says, but the new study shows fasting plays a role, too.
Or fasting itself may lower the risk of heart disease through some undiscovered biological mechanism, he says.
Fasting May Not Be Right for Everyone
AHA past president Sidney Smith, MD, a heart doctor at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, says he would be very reluctant to make sweeping recommendations about the benefits of fasting without more information about the dietary practices of the people studied.
“It’s not clear how other populations [that don’t follow the same strict practices as Mormons with regard to eating, smoking, and drinking] would handle fasting. It could even be harmful,” Smith tells WebMD.
The best prescription for reducing your risk of heart disease, he says, is to exercise, eat right, and avoid smoking.
You can read more on this at WebMD
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