Starvation strengthens immunity – this was the conclusion of American scientists who conducted special research on this topic.
The initiator of the project was the research service of the US Department of Agriculture, and its base was the industry laboratory of nutrition immunology and the Center for Food and Aging Problems at Tafts University in Boston (Massachusetts.
The Ministry of Agriculture informed that 46 volunteers participated in the experiment – women and men aged 20 to 40 years with unnecessary but not excessive weight. These people were divided into two groups and their meals were reduced in calories for six months – for one group by 10%, and for the other by 30%. Only the food provided by the organizers of the experiment was allowed to be eaten.
Before its commencement, each of the volunteers had their immune system tested. In particular, the so-called sluggish type cutaneous hypersensitivity reaction, T-lymphocyte functions and other factors.
After the experiment, it turned out that in volunteers from both groups, the functional indicators of the immune system significantly improved. According to the organizers of the research, for T-cells such a relationship with starvation was experimentally proven for the first time.
The description of the experiment was published in the latest issue of Wiadomości z Gerontologii i Nauk Biologiczne. (PAP)