Fasting ‘is good for the heart’

Those on the look out for the best way to lose weight should stop their search as researchers in the US claim to have found the answer.

Scientists at the Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute found that periodic fasting not only helps people to shed a few pounds, but it is also good for heart health.

Fasting lowers a person’s risk of developing coronary artery disease and diabetes as well as reducing blood cholesterol levels.

The study’s principal investigator, Dr Benjamin Horne, director of cardiovascular and genetic epidemiology at the Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute, said: “The confirmation among a new set of patients that fasting is associated with lower risk of these common diseases raises new questions about how fasting itself reduces risk or if it simply indicates a healthy lifestyle.”

Findings from the study were presented yesterday (Sunday April 3rd) at the annual scientific sessions of the American College of Cardiology in New Orleans.

Researchers at Purdue University in the US do not have much to say for fasting, as they claim that eating three protein-rich meals a day helps people to lose weight.

Have you tried fasting as a way of reducing your weight?