Latest Research
The adaptation to fasting reduces muscle protein breakdown by switching from a carbohydrate to fat fuel economy in normal man. With the discovery of T3 and the observation that its formation from T4 was reduced significantly during starvation, it was proposed that T3 mediated many of these changes. To examine this possibility, otherwise healthy, obese subjects were fasted for 10 days and… Read More
In a study of the mechanism of adaptation to protein deficiency, 10 moderately obese women underwent a 3-wk fast followed by random allocation to a 1-wk refeeding regimen providing 80 g carbohydrate or protein. Protein metabolism was studied by means of nitrogen (N) balance, urinary 3-methylhistidine excretion, and postabsorptive plasma leucine flux using L-[1-13C]leucine infusions. After the… Read More
1. The effect of total starvation for 4-5 days on the intestinal uptake and urinary excretion of markers from an orally administered mixture of mannitol (5g), [14C]mannitol (0.5 microCi), lactulose (10 g) and 51Cr-labelled ethylenediaminetetra-acetate (51Cr-EDTA) (30 microCi), was assessed in five lean (group 1) and four obese (group 2) subjects. The effect of a very low calorie diet… Read More
The effects of acute food deprivation and subsequent refeeding on urinary orotic acid excretion were examined in nine healthy adult male subjects. During inpatient metabolic ward conditions, the volunteers were fed a nutritionally complete, pyrimidine- and purine-free diet for three days and subsequently underwent a ten-day fast followed by a ten-day period of refeeding by total parenteral… Read More
Catecholamines have multiple metabolic and fluid-electrolyte as well as cardiovascular effects, and their levels in plasma respond to alterations in nutrient and sodium intakes. Plasma norepinephrine, epinephrine, and dopamine were measured in 12 obese nondiabetic subjects before and after 400 kcal/day diets of either protein or glucose, followed by total fasting, and then by hypocaloric… Read More
In 30 obese men, calcium, magnesium, and phosphate balances were measured for 40 days using one of four weight reducing regimens: 1) 400 kcal soy protein; 2) 400 kcal collagen protein; 3) total fasting with potassium; and 4) total fasting without potassium. Relationship of the minerals to each other and to nitrogen and to the QTc interval was also examined. All groups were in negative… Read More
Forty-two adults, visiting a Swedish health home, participated in the investigation, which included a 6-day period of fasting, followed by a 6-day period with a lactovegetarian diet. The results obtained indicated only a minor and mostly not significant influence on secretion rate, buffer effect, concentration of various electrolytes, and number of lactobacilli and S. mutans… Read More
Fasting and hypocaloric diets are known to induce a reduction of triiodothyronine (T3) and to increase reverse triiodothyronine (rT3) in normal and obese subjects. The effect of 8-day fasting was evaluated on T3, thyroxine (T4), free T4, rT3, TSH, immunoreactive insulin (IRI), thyroxine binding globulin (TBG) and glycemia in 21 obese subjects (5 males, 16 females) grouped according to the… Read More
Skeletal muscle function and standard nutritional assessment parameters were measured in six obese patients. Base-line measurements were made on a weight-maintaining diet, and further measurements after 2 wk of a 400-cal diet, followed by 2 wk of fasting and then after 2 wk of refeeding. The function of the adductor pollicis muscle was assessed by electrical… Read More
Sodium DL-3-hydroxybutyrate was administered to obese subjects (more than 150% ideal body-weight) who were either receiving a 2 . 5 MJ (600 kcal) diet containing 34 g protein on one day with a total fast (water and vitamins only) on the next day, for 21 days, or were undergoing therapeutic starvation for 14 days. Both intravenous and oral hydroxybutyrate significantly reduced… Read More