The cleansing power of fasting is one of the oldest healing therapies known to mankind.
Healers in ancient Egypt, India and Greece often told patients to periodically abstain from food to cleanse and rejuvenate the body.
In fact, the three fathers of Western medicine — Hippocrates, Galen and Paracelsus — all fasted and regularly prescribed it to their patients.
Hippocrates stated that “to eat when you are sick is to feed your illness.”
And Paracelsus described fasting as “the greatest remedy — the physician within.”
Hippocrates - the Father of Medicine - promoted fasting for acute illness. He stated that eating when sick is “to feed your illness.”
But today, that ancient wisdom has been ignored by most modern doctors — even though studies have shown regular periods of fasting help:
Improve cognition, slow brain aging, create new brain cells1,2
Fight heart disease3,4
Leads to fat and weight loss5
Reverse type 2 diabetes6
Reduce chronic inflammation7
Ease symptoms of autoimmune disease8
And fight cancer9
That’s because mainstream medicine makes far more money on symptom-centered treatments that “control” illnesses with expensive drugs and surgical procedures, rather than curing them.
But the science on the extraordinary therapeutic power of fasting is getting harder to ignore…
A recent groundbreaking study by the University of Southern California (USC) revealed that intermittent fasting could actually trigger stem cell regeneration of new immune system cells. The study, published in the journal Cell Stem Cell, is the first to show a natural trigger for the regeneration of an organ or system through stem cells.10
This is a huge development. Tapping into the healing power of stem cells remains inaccessible to most people, because it’s highly specialized treatment that’s relatively costly. This new study may change that.
We now have a natural, inexpensive way to bring the benefits of stem cell healing to the masses by adding periods of fasting to our diets.
In this special report, you’ll learn how intermittent fasting works, how it can “reboot” your entire immune system, and how you can start your own fasting program today.
The End of All Disease
You’ve heard me talk about the healing power of stem cells before…
They’re the most versatile cells in human biology. They act as the building blocks for the repair of virtually every tissue and organ in your body.
When disease or injury causes damage, these “blank slate” stem cells morph into whatever specialized cells you need to repair it. These can include immune cells, bone cells, muscle cells, brain cells, or any other cells.
Research shows fasting can activate and rejuvenate stem cells, helping your body repair and regenerate tissues, slow aging, and fight disease
The newly differentiated cells repair damaged tissue and organs, enabling you to make stunning recoveries.
Stem cell treatment has the potential to cure chronic diseases and ailments we once accepted as a natural part of aging- including cancer, heart and lung disease, diabetes and joint pain.
But that’s not all it can do…
Healthy stem cells also produce the enzyme telomerase.
This stimulates the growth of telomeres, the tiny strands of DNA at the end of each chromosome that are the markers of your biological age.
As you age, your telomeres get shorter. By producing more telomerase, you can extend the length of your telomeres. And the longer your telomeres, the younger and more vibrant you look and feel.
Out With the Old, In with the New
Intermittent fasting taps into the healing power of stem cells by signaling them to produce new, differentiated immune cells in your body.
You see, your immune system is your body’s frontline protection against all disease. But your immune cells start to wear out as you age.
The USC study is so exciting, because it reveals that periodic fasting cycles actually flip a regenerative switch inside your body, altering the signaling pathways for your hematopoietic stem cells, which make them generate new immune cells and blood cells.
Here’s how it works…
During fasting, your white blood cell count drops. The researchers found that during each fasting cycle, this drop in white cell levels triggers a stem-cell based regeneration of new immune cells to replace them.
Basically, fasting tells your body to start “rebooting” your immune system by removing damaged cells and triggering stem cell regeneration of new immune cells to do battle.
In other words, your body clears the deck of old, weak soldiers and replaces them with healthy ones.
In particular, periodic fasting was able to shut down PKA, an enzyme that needs to go quiet in order for stem cells to switch into regenerative mode.
When PKA shuts down, it signals your stem cells to start proliferating and rebuilding your immunity.
Dr. Valter Longo, one of the authors of the study, believes that periodic fasting can give your immune system an entirely new start.
In the study, he says: “Now, if you start with a system that’s heavily damaged by chemotherapy or aging, fasting cycles can generate, literally, a new immune system.”
That stunning declaration hints at the big potential intermittent fasting has to transform modern medicine.
As an added bonus, the study also showed that fasting leads to a drop in insulin growth factor 1 (IGF-1), a hormone linked to aging, cancer and tumor progression.
A study at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York found that low IGF-1 levels are a way of predicting if someone is going to live longer and healthier.11
An Ancient Remedy
Fasting isn’t new. It was a fact of life for our ancient ancestors. They fluctuated between feast and famine depending upon how successful the hunt was.
And they often went for days without food.
As a result, feast-and-famine fluctuations became hard-wired into our bodies for optimal metabolic function.
That’s why a nutrition cycle that includes fasting suits your body far better that the “three meals per day plus snacking in between” daily diet that most people follow today.
The USC study featured a fasting period of no food for two to four days over the course of six months.
That may be difficult for some people to follow at the start.
Is Fasting for You?
Fasting isn’t for everyone.
If you’re hypoglycemic, diabetic, have kidney or liver disease, or special dietary requirements, you may be better off avoiding it. Consult with your doctor.
Also, make sure you pay attention to your body when fasting. If it doesn’t agree with you or it leads to any health issues, it’s OK to stop.
But also remember that it will take your body some time to adjust to fasting.
If you can deal with minor annoyances like headaches and irritability in the beginning, your body will eventually adjust to fasting cycles.
Those bad symptoms will eventually go away. Just keep in mind that we’re all different, so some may require more adjustment time than others.
I recommend that my patients begin with a safe, simple and effective fasting program that calls for eating during an 8-hour window each day, followed by a 16-hour fast.
Start your day with a 10 a.m. breakfast
Lunch at our regular time
Finish your dinner by 6 p.m.
Your body gets no additional food from 6 p.m. until 10 a.m. the following morning
Most of my patients find this option a great introduction to fasting, because nearly half of the fast is spent sleeping, making it much easier to adjust to.
Then, when your body gets used to the 16-hour fast, you move up to the 24-hour mark.
Starting the 24-hour fast is also easy. If your last meal was at 6 p.m. today, won’t eat until 6 p.m. tomorrow.
But you should drink plenty of water to hydrate your body and flush toxins out during the fast.
After the 24-hour fast is over, don’t gorge yourself on a massive meal. Just eat as you normally would.
And it’s best to fast on your busiest days so you’re not focused on eating food and any potential hunger pangs.
After your body gets used to the 24-hour fast you can begin stepping up to the two-to-four-day fasts featured in the USC study.
Keep in mind proper nutrition is vitally important when fasting. Give your body a proper supply of clean fuel to work with when your new immune system cells are in place and ready to get to work.
Grass-fed beef and organ meat, beef bacon, wild-caught fish, pastured eggs, and avocado are great sources for meals.
Snacks should include nuts like walnuts and almonds. Include plenty of healthy fats like olive and coconut oils, ghee, butter, and tallow.
It’s important that you give your body a proper supply of clean fuel to work with in between fasting periods
To Your Good Health,
References:
[1] Ooi T, et al. “Intermittent Fasting Enhanced the Cognitive Function in Older Adults with Mild Cognitive Impairment by Inducing Biochemical and Metabolic changes: A 3-Year Progressive Study.” Nutrients. 2020;12(9):2644.
[2] Baik S, et al. “Intermittent fasting increases adult hippocampal neurogenesis.” Brain Behav. 2020 Jan;10(1):e01444.
[3] Baptist Health. “How timing your dining protects your ticker.” www.baptistjax.com 2022. Accessed on December 19, 2025.
[4] “Intermittent fasting protects the heart following acute stress induced by an ischemia-reperfusion episode in healthy rats.” Arch Cardiovasc Dis. 2025 June-July;118(6-7):S192.
[5] Anton S. “Intermittent fasting leads to significant weight loss, slows aging, UF research review finds.” https://floridaphysician.med.ufl.edu/2019/02/12/intermittent-fasting-as-a-weight-loss-approach/
[6] Manoogian E, et al. “Intermittent fasting may reverse type 2 diabetes.” Time-restricted Eating for the Prevention and Management of Metabolic Diseases. Endocrine Rev. 2022; 43 (2):405.
[7] Pereira, M & Liang, J et al. “Arachidonic acid inhibition of the NLRP3 inflammasome is a mechanism to explain the anti-inflammatory effects of fasting.” Cell Rep. 2024 Feb 27;43(2):113700.
[8] Barati M, et al. “Intermittent fasting: A promising dietary intervention for autoimmune diseases.” Autoimmun Rev. 2023 Oct;22(10):103408.
[9] Clifton K, et al. “Intermittent fasting in the prevention and treatment of cancer.” CA Cancer J Clin. 2021 Nov;71(6):527-546.
[10] Cheng C, et al. “Prolonged Fasting Reduces IGF-1/PKA to Promote Hematopoietic-Stem-Cell-Based Regeneration and Reverse Immunosuppression.” Cell Stem Cell. 2014;14(6):810–823.
[11] Gong Z, et al. “Reductions in serum IGF-1 during aging impair health span.” Aging Cell. 2014 Jun;13(3):408-18.