Intermittent fasting is when people limit their food consumption to certain hours of the day.
New Delhi:
Time-restricted or intermittent fasting, an eating pattern whereby people limit their food consumption to certain hours of the day, may cause fertility problems, according to new research.
The research team, led by the University of East Anglia (UEA), UK, also said it was significant that they observed few negative effects on the quality of eggs and sperm once fish meal consumption returned to normal levels.
He further added that despite being done in fish, the study highlights the importance of considering not only the effects of fasting on weight and health, but also on fertility.
The study is published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B.
“Time-restricted fasting is a popular health and fitness trend and people are doing it to lose weight and improve their health.
Professor Alexei Maklakov, from UEA’s School of Biological Sciences, said: “But the way organisms respond to food deprivation can affect egg and sperm quality and such effects may persist long after the end of the fasting period. may also continue.”
To find out what happened when the individuals were exposed to food during and after the fasting period, the researchers measured how male and female zebrafish (Danio rerio) were affected by the production and maintenance of sperm and eggs versus body maintenance. How to allocate resources for
They also studied the quality of the resulting offspring.
“What we found is that time-restricted fasting affects reproduction differently in males and females. Once the fish returned to their normal feeding schedules, females increased their ability to spawn at the expense of egg quality.” increased the number of offspring, which resulted in reduced quality of the offspring. Sperm quality of males also decreased
“These findings underline the importance of considering the effect of fasting not only on body maintenance but also on egg and sperm production,” said Edward Iweme-Cook, from UEA’s School of Biological Sciences.
They also said that more research is needed to understand how long it takes for sperm and egg quality to return to normal after a period of fasting.