Fasting diets could harm future generations, says Norwich research

Scientists at the University of East Anglia studied roundworms and their offspring to see what impact limiting food intake had on them.

Roundworms have many of the same genes and molecular pathways controlling development as humans, so the UEA researchers believe the study sheds important light on the potential impact of fasting diets on people.

Roundworms were studied by scientists at the University of East Anglia. (Image: Archant © 2011)

Lead researcher Dr Edward Ivimey-Cook, from UEA’s School of Biological Sciences, said: “We know reduced food intake increases the lifespan in many animals and can potentially improve health in humans.

"However, little is known about the long-term effects of reduced food intake, including time-limited fasting, on distant descendants."

The team studied the impact of time-limited fasting on the lifespan and reproduction of roundworms and across three generations of their descendants, studying more than 2,500 worms across four generations.

Some were able to eat as much as they liked and some were given limited food.

Dr Ivimey-Cook said roundworms were " a classic model organism" for studying the ageing process because they share, with humans, many genes and molecular pathways which control development.

He said their short life cycle meant they could study development of them and their offspring in a short amount of time.

"Doing a similar study across humans could take a century or more," he said.

The peer-reviewed study, published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society journal, found fasting did increase their lifespan and improved offspring performance in terms of reproduction, when offspring were also fasting.

But he said researchers were surprised to find fasting reduced offspring performance when the offspring had access to unlimited food - which was also the case in grand-offspring and great-grand-offspring.

He said: "Our study strongly prompts us to consider multigenerational effects of fasting in different organisms, including humans.

"This is really important because it means we need to carefully consider the long-term effects of fasting when trying to pursue healthy lifestyles – because the detrimental impact may only manifest itself in distant generations.”