Fasting Can Make Women Fertile Longer

Jakarta, Fasting has many health benefits. The study found that fasting or restricting calories can extend the infertile woman. In addition, fasting also make women produce more eggs.

Researchers from Harvard in collaboration with Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) found that restricting the caloric intake of adult female mice can prevent the emergence of abnormalities in pregnancy. The research was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA.

"We found that every aspect of the decline in egg quality in women related to aging can be prevented," said Jonathan Tilly, director of the Vincent Center for Reproductive Biology at Massachusetts General Hospital Vincent Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and professor of obstetrics, gynecology, and reproductive biology at Harvard Medical School as reported Harvard.edu, Thursday (26/04/2012).

Several other studies also have found that animals that are restricted food intake but not malnourished are living longer and show signs of aging less than animals given plenty of food.

Previous research found that female rats are restricted calorie intake as an adult can maintain its fertility to old age. This fertility effect persists even when the animals are given plenty of food.

In women who have been getting old, sometimes the process of formation of the egg cell disorder. Disturbance may be experienced by the occurrence of additional or missing chromosome. As a result, the older a person, are likely to experience infertility, miscarriages, and birth defects bigger.

In this study, scientists monitored two groups of young adult female rats aged 3 months to 1 year. This age is the age at which the egg quality and fertility of rats is reduced drastically. One of the groups are allowed to eat as much food during adulthood, while other groups restricted their food intake for 7 months and only allowed to eat much before the study ended.

Mice are allowed to eat freely experienced a decrease in the number of eggs produced during ovulation and egg cooked ready to be fertilized. While the eggs of mice that restricted their food intake more like a female mouse eggs healthy young adults in the prime reproductive age.

Chromosome analysis found no significant abnormalities in the cells of mice that eat freely. While the eggs of mice that restricted their food intake showed no abnormalities related to aging. Unfortunately, the mechanisms underlying this process is still not known with certainty.

"Most research on calorie restriction have been performed on rats and other laboratory animals. Over the last few years, several studies have shown some health benefits in mice that were also seen in monkeys and may affect humans as well," Tilly said.