Intermittent fasting has proven benefits for metabolic health, but a new study shows that it could slow hair growth-;at least in mice. Researchers report December 13 in the Cell Press journal Cell that mice subjected to intermittent fasting regimes showed improved metabolic health but slower hair regeneration compared to mice with 24/7 access to food. A similar process might occur in humans, based on a small clinical trial that the team also conducted, but it’s likely to be less severe since humans have a much slower metabolic rate and different hair growth patterns compared to mice.
We don’t want to scare people away from practicing intermittent fasting because it is associated with a lot of beneficial effects-;it’s just important to be aware that it might have some unintended effects”
Bing Zhang (@bingzhang_lab), senior author and stem cell biologist of Westlake University in Zhejiang, China
In addition to its metabolic benefits, previous studies have shown that fasting can improve the stress resistance of stem cells associated with blood, intestinal, and muscle tissue, but little is known about how it impacts peripheral tissues such as skin and hair. Zhang’s team hypothesized that fasting might also be beneficial for skin tissue regeneration, the process by which old and damaged cells are replaced.
To test this, they examined hair regrowth in mice that were shaved and then subjected to different intermittent fasting regimes. Some mice were fed on a time-restricted feeding (TRF) schedule that involved 8 hours of food access and 16 hours