Study Buddy (Challenger): How intermittent fasting may protect brain health and help extend longevity
- Neuroscience professor explains how a dietary approach could fight brain ageing as well as diseases like diabetes
- This page is for students who want to take their reading comprehension to the next level with difficult vocabulary and questions to test their inference skills
Intermittent fasting could help mitigate health conditions such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and even Alzheimer’s, according to one neuroscience professor. Photo: ShutterstockContent provided by British Council
Read the following text, and answer questions 1-9 below:
[1] Mark Mattson began studying brain ageing and Alzheimer’s disease in the late 1980s – long before anybody talked about intermittent fasting. The professor of neuroscience at Johns Hopkins University in the US took notice of growing evidence that intermittent fasting – a dietary approach that alternates between periods of feeding and fasting – could extend the lifespan of laboratory rats.
[2] It comes in a variety of forms: the 16:8 method, sometimes called lean gains, when you fast for 16 hours of the day and consume all your calories within an eight-hour window, so from noon to 8pm, say. Then there’s the 5:2 diet, in which you eat normally for five out of seven days in the week and eat less for the other two non-consecutive days. The eat-stop-eat approach describes a 24-hour fast once or twice a week.
[3] There’s the alternate-day fast, with the clue in the name – you fast every other day. And finally, there’s the more extreme “warrior diet” – fasting for 20 hours every day and eating a big meal in a brief window in the evening.
[4] Scientific evidence of the benefits of intermittent fasting continues to grow. An October 2023 study conducted by the University of California San Diego in the US found that time-restricted feeding “rescues brain pathology and improves memory in mouse models of Alzheimer’s disease”. The practice is not recommended for children.
[5] The benefits of intermittent fasting extend to several health conditions and can help mitigate diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular disease, and even cancer. As a result, it is gaining ground in the race to healthy longevity. A reference to an early study on intermittent fasting was startling: it reported that the average lifespan of rats on a programme of alternate-day feeding increased by more than 80 per cent.
[6] The benefits of intermittent fasting go beyond what can be achieved with a healthy diet alone, says Mattson, who in 2022 published The Intermittent Fasting Revolution. This is especially the case where the brain is concerned. Early in the development of Alzheimer’s, he says, “neurons battle to use glucose because they develop insulin resistance”. But these cells can still use and function well on the ketones our bodies produce in a state of fasting, and ketones are “a more efficient fuel and also result in less oxidative stress/free-radical production”.
[7] In addition to prompting the production of more efficient brain fuel, fasting leads to autophagy – from the Greek auto, self, and phagy, to eat (so essentially eating oneself) – which may help to reduce the build-up of the toxic amyloid protein plaques, the pathological marker of Alzheimer’s, and could protect neurons from the stress of this protein build-up.
[8] Fasting – and those resultant ketones – also stimulates brain cells to produce a protein called BDNF (brain-derived neurotrophic factor), says Mattson, which enhances learning and memory and the formation of new synaptic connections between neurons. It also helps rid neurons of a build-up of molecular “garbage” by stimulating that all-important autophagy.
Source: South China Morning Post, November 20
Questions
1. Why does the writer mention Mattson’s studies in the 1980s in paragraph 1? ______________________________________________________________________________________________________
2. Find a word or phrase in paragraph 1 that has a similar meaning to “rotates”.
___________________________________________________
3. Which form of intermittent fasting is not mentioned in paragraphs 2 and 3?
A. five days a week and limiting to a low-calorie diet on two days
B. skipping breakfast and only eating between noon and 8pm
C. switching between 10 hours of eating and 14 hours of fasting each day
D. fasting every other day
4. What is the purpose of mentioning the study conducted by the University of California San Diego in paragraph 4? ______________________________________________________________________________________________________
5. Name two potential benefits of intermittent fasting mentioned in paragraph 5. (2 marks) ______________________________________________________________________________________________________
6. In the context of Alzheimer’s disease, why are ketones better than glucose, according to Mattson’s explanation in paragraph 6? (2 marks)
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
7. What is “autophagy” based on your understanding of paragraph 7? ______________________________________________________________________________________________________
8. Mattson’s attitude towards intermittent fasting can most likely be described as ...
A. resistant
B. indifferent
C. cautious
D. encouraging
9. Decide whether the following statements are True, False or the information is Not Given in the text. (4 marks)
(i) Certain intermittent fasting schedules involve restricting one’s meals to less than 10 hours and consuming all your daily calories during this period.
(ii) When somebody adopts the “warrior diet”, they fast for a minimum of 20 hours on alternate days and have a substantial meal within a short period in the evening.
(iii) In The Intermittent Fasting Revolution, Mattson looks into the latest scientific discoveries and groundbreaking research in the field of intermittent fasting, including its effects on brain development.
(iv) The process of fasting triggers the generation of a specific protein known as BDNF, which plays a vital role in significantly augmenting cognitive functions such as learning and memory capabilities.
Answers
1. to show that Mark Mattson is experienced in the field, especially when it comes to the subject of intermittent fasting (accept all similar answers)
2. alternates
3. C
4. to show that scientific evidence of the benefits of intermittent fasting continues to grow
5. It helps mitigate health issues like diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular disease, and even cancer. It might also prolong our average lifespan.
6. Ketones are better than glucose because neurons develop insulin resistance, making it difficult for them to use glucose effectively. However, neurons can still efficiently function on ketones, which are produced in a state of fasting. It is a more efficient fuel source for the body. (accept all similar answers)
7. The process of cells eating themselves to help reduce the build-up of the toxic amyloid protein plaques in our bodies. (accept all similar answers)
8. D
9. (i) T; (ii) F; (iii) NG; (iv) T