Practicality of Intermittent Fasting and Its Effect on Markers of Aging and Oxidative Stress

Summary

Healthy volunteers will be recruited to participate in a ten-week double-blinded crossover trial. The trial will consist of two, three-week periods of intermittent fasting, where subjects receive either antioxidant supplementation or placebo, the ordering of which will be randomly determined. A one-week preconditioning will precede each invention period, and a two week "wash-out" period will follow the first intervention period. Serum-based assays will be performed to assess levels of reactive oxidant species, antioxidant genes, sirtuins, and markers of mitochondrial biogenesis and aging.

The investigators hypothesize that an intermittent fasting diet in healthy young volunteers will improve these markers of cellular aging and that these beneficial effects will be abrogated by the supplementation of antioxidants. This study is a proof-of-principle study that will shed light on the mechanism and effects of IF as an anti-aging dietary intervention in the absence of weight loss. It will inform the design of dietary interventions that are both effective in improving markers of aging and feasible for patients to practice on a long-term basis.

Conditions

• Aging
• Metabolism

Interventions

OTHER

Intermittent Fasting

The intermittent fasting paradigm used in this study will require participants to alternate between days of feasting (175% of normal caloric intake) and fasting ( 25% of normal caloric intake). Food will be provided by University of Florida Clinical Research Center with macronutrient composition prepared according to the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans.

DIETARY_SUPPLEMENT

400 IU Vitamin E

once each day in morning; oral pill form

DIETARY_SUPPLEMENT

1000 mg Vitamin C

500mg twice each day; morning and evening; oral pill form

Sponsors & Collaborators

• National Institutes of Health (NIH)

  collaborator NIH

• National Institute on Aging (NIA)

  collaborator NIH

• University of Florida

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Mark L Brantly, MD · University of Florida

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

BASIC_SCIENCE

Masking

QUADRUPLE

Model

CROSSOVER

Eligibility

Min Age

19 Years

Max Age

30 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2011-03-31

Primary Completion

2011-11-30

Completion

2011-11-30

Countries

• United States

Study Locations