Since around the 1980s, our society has been facing worrying figures of overweight and obesity. Excess kilos and body fat have been defined as a multifactorial chronic disease that reduces life expectancy and quality of life. It is a factor that increases the risk of mortality and disability, chronic diseases such as hypertension, cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes and different types of cancer, among others.
One of the effects promoted by excess body fat is the pro-inflammatory state and the dysfunction of the immune system that it generates in the organism, which would explain the increased risk of mortality and chronic diseases. Fat or adipose tissue is made up of cells called adipocytes which, when they accumulate too much fat, begin to secrete inflammatory molecules, some of which activate the body’s immune response.
For example, some of the “warriors” of our defenses, such as macrophages, come into action, increasing inflammation in the fat tissue itself and increasing the dysfunction of the adipocytes, setting in motion the vicious circle of a toxic relationship for our organism. Thus, obesity becomes a chronic low-grade inflammatory disease.
What is restriction fasting
In the last decade, a dietary pattern that was originally born to combat excess weight and body fat has become popular: fasting by restriction of the window of intakes. This type of intermittent fasting is based on limiting the time we eat daily (between 4 and 10 hours). During the rest of the day (from 14 to 20 hours) we would only drink non-caloric beverages such as water, herbal teas and/or coffee, to keep us hydrated.
In a simple way, without the need to count calories or modify or restrict foods in the diet, fasting by restricting the window of intakes offers cardiometabolic benefits even if there are no noticeable changes in the scales. All these qualities explain the high compliance and satisfaction figures of those who follow it.
Circadian rhythms
One of the keys to this type of fasting lies in aligning our circadian rhythms, that is, the “internal clock” that governs the functioning of our organs, related to solar time. This biological mechanism has been shown to control the innate and adaptive responses of the immune system.
For example, feeding “out of phase” with circadian rhythms (eating at night or having an intake window of twelve or more hours) promotes chronic low-grade inflammation. Therefore, restriction could be exerting its anti-inflammatory effects through modulation of the immune system.
In addition, we should keep in mind that this type of fasting increases the diversity of our gut microbiota and different groups of beneficial bacteria, which would also have a positive impact on inflammation and the immune response itself.
Anti-inflammatory effects
To check whether there is a relationship between the benefits of this dietary habit and the improvement of the immune system, we conducted a study in which we analyzed the 25 studies carried out, with a total of 936 participants, in this area of research.
Thus, we were able to determine that, indeed, those who follow the restriction of the intake window register a decrease in tumor necrosis factor alpha (a biomarker of inflammation) and leptin. This hormone secreted by fat tissue not only regulates appetite, but also modulates the inflammatory and immune response.
