Fasting diets could make you more prone to infections

The 5:2 diet has become famous across the country and the western world, but a potential danger of the extreme diet has come to light following studies from scientists at the University of Bath.
The diet utilises fasting on two days of the week to help cut down on fat and supposedly make people healthier; claims say that it can help to improve life span and make people live longer.
However, research suggests that there is a big trade off, as the diet may make people far more susceptible to infection.
Researchers looked at four stress and immunity genes in fruit flies which are associated with a longer lifespan, of which similar or identical version are found in humans, and are associated with starvation or fasting.
It was found that when the flies had a longer lifespan due to the activation of some of the genes, they became 20% more prone to infections.
This indicates that people who undertake fasting diets may extend their predicted lifespan by limiting their calorie intake, but they are also making themselves more prone to infections.
Dr. Nick Priest, the leader of the study said that “many studies have documented benefits of diet restriction, but there is a lack of data on levels of illness in people administered these anti-ageing treatments.
“There are clear health benefits to diets such as the 5:2 but we need to bear in mind there are side effects.”