The Effects of Dietary Interventions on Brain Aging and Neurological Diseases.
Level 5 - mechanism / opinion, no new human data
Narrative review synthesizing in vitro, animal, and clinical literature without systematic review methodology
PubMed 36501116 · doi:10.3390/nu14235086
What was done
This narrative review synthesized evidence from in vitro studies, animal models, and clinical trials examining dietary interventions—including calorie restriction, alternate-day fasting, time-restricted feeding, and fasting-mimicking diets—on brain aging and neurological conditions (Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, epilepsy, and multiple sclerosis).
What was found
The abstract reports no numerical outcomes, statistics, or effect sizes. It qualitatively describes that intermittent and periodic fasting improve cognitive and motor-coordination decline, increase neurogenesis and synaptic plasticity, and reduce neuroinflammation, mitochondrial dysfunction, and oxidative stress.
Why it matters
It provides a broad overview of proposed cellular mechanisms and phenotypic effects of various fasting regimens across both healthy aging and neurodegenerative disorders.
Limits
The work is an unsystematic narrative review rather than a systematic review or meta-analysis. Substantial portions of the underlying evidence rely on preclinical animal models rather than definitive human clinical trials, and the abstract omits quantitative data and study counts.
Cited by
- contradicts In animal models challenged with neurotoxins causing neuronal cell death, intermittent fasting is neuroprotective whereas dietary/caloric restriction is not.