Howdy. First experience with this forum, so let’s go big with my first question!
Has anyone tried to mimic a study done with Type 1 mice and their ability to "reboot " a pancreas by simply " hard resetting " it? It occasionally fixes stuff with my phone… why couldn’t it work with the islets of langerhans? Or maybe to confuse/starve the virus(??) that messes with beta cells? I certainly didn’t do much research 
, and I am wondering ifins anyone else has!
Viruses are often the trigger to causing the immune system to misidentify the pancreatic Beta cells as foreign enemies. There are 4 different glucose regulation cells in the islets,
I can’t see anyway that fasting would reset the immune system and grow new Beta cells. 110 years ago, children with T1DM were had their lives extended a bit by being on a starvation diet. They died anyway, It wasn’t until the discovery and isolated from animal pancreases that some of these children survived. Some were already comatose and recovered after being injected with insulin.
If starvation did not reset their pancreases, I doubt fasting will do anything.
The rogue immune system is the Snidely Whiplass of T1DM and all the other autoimmune diseases, only it never gets foiled again.
Pancreatic transplants have mixed results lasting any where from 2 to 10 years before the immune system destroys the Beta cells. And besides the person trades insulin for a lifetime of immunosuppressant drugs. Probably for this reason they usually only do a pancreatic transplant along with a kidney transplant.
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This was what I was referring to…
One of the most well-known studies on fasting and pancreatic regeneration was conducted by Dr. Valter Longo and his team at the University of Southern California, published in Cell in 2017. Key Findings of the Study • The study used a Fasting-Mimicking Diet (FMD) in mice with diabetes (both Type 1 and Type 2 models). • Periodic cycles of this low-calorie, plant-based diet reversed diabetes symptoms and regenerated pancreatic beta cells (which produce insulin). • The fasting cycles triggered reprogramming of non-beta cells into insulin-producing cells. • Mice regained better blood sugar control and insulin function after fasting cycles. How It Worked • Fasting led to a drop in insulin and IGF-1 levels, promoting cellular repair and autophagy. • Refeeding after fasting reactivated pancreatic cell regeneration, mimicking early developmental processes. Implications for Humans • Though this study was in mice, follow-up research suggests that similar fasting-based strategies could help improve insulin sensitivity and beta-cell function in humans. • A Fasting-Mimicking Diet (FMD) is currently being explored as a potential tool for managing diabetes and metabolic disorders.
Since the study was done in 2017, I expect that if there was anything there we would have heard about it in the following 8 years…
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If this would actually repurpose some Alpha cells as insulin secretors that’d be a game changer.
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Possibly because it showed merit? I can’t imagine why similar mock-fasting pancreas reboots aren’t being tried on ANY diabetic person or animal??? I don’t see anything that would be harmful to anyone. But it DOES involve a specific type of diet, soooo, need I say more?
Lmao!
After resding the article about the study and the other Dr. Longo studies there seems top be no indications that there is any impact on human fasting and the only Type 1 in the studies were chemically initiated mice, which are missing the T!D physiological causes of T1D in humans.
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Crap! Thanks for investigating it much better than I did!
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Correct, the mouse model of T1D is a standard one that involves dosing them with streptozotocin to destroy beta cells. It doesn’t induce an autoimmune condition, however. After this study Longo moved on to cancer and life extension as the main focus of his fasting research. Without getting into the merits of any of this research, it smacks of One Weird Trick to me.
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