Intermittent fasting might help ease chronic pain and related mental health issues. This is according to a new study on mice from researchers at the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University in China.
The findings add to a growing understanding of how the brain and gut are connected. They highlight the role of gut bacteria in keeping our minds healthy.
The Link Between Pain and Mental Health
Millions of people worldwide suffer from chronic pain. This constant discomfort often leads to mental health problems like anxiety and depression. Current treatments usually address pain and mental health separately.
We're a new kind of news feed.
Regular news is designed to drain you. We're a non-profit built to restore you. Every story we publish is scored for impact, progress, and hope.
Start Your News DetoxInterestingly, chronic pain and its mental effects seem strongly tied to the gut-brain axis. This connection might be affected by nerve problems, hormone imbalances, changes in gut microbes, or a mix of these factors.
Previous research suggested that fasting could reduce pain. It might do this by affecting hormones, repairing nerve insulation, and lowering brain inflammation. However, its impact on the mental health side of chronic pain was less clear.
How Fasting Helps
To understand this better, researchers studied mice with different types of long-term pain. These included pain from injuries or inflammation.
For 38 days, some adult male mice ate every other day. Other mice ate normally.
After this, the animals were tested for pain sensitivity, anxiety, gut microbes, and brain inflammation.
The fasting mice showed less pain and fewer cognitive problems. Fasting mice with pain from an injury also showed less anxiety than those who ate normally.
Fasting mice also had a stronger gut barrier and less nervous system inflammation. Their gut bacteria changed, with a significant increase in Alistipes finegoldii.
When researchers gave Alistipes finegoldii bacteria to non-fasting mice, these mice showed similar pain relief and mental health improvements as the fasting mice.
Further analysis pointed to hippuric acid as a key player. This compound is made when gut bacteria break down certain nutrients. It seems to activate a specific pathway called the Stimulator of Interferon Genes (STING).
This research connects fasting, a specific gut microbe, and its effect on blood chemistry to brain inflammation. This gives scientists a new path to explore for treating chronic pain and its mental toll.
What This Means for the Future
Intermittent fasting is not yet a cure for chronic pain and anxiety. More research is needed to fully understand the Alistipes finegoldii–hippuric acid–STING neuroimmune axis.
However, fasting can offer many health benefits when done safely and under medical guidance. Managing chronic pain and its mental impacts might one day be one of these benefits.
Deep Dive & References: Intermittent fasting alleviates chronic pain and comorbid anxiety-like behaviors by modulating the gut microbiota-hippuric acid-STING neuroimmune axis - Brain, Behavior, and Immunity
