A recent study by the University of Southern California, USA, found that short-term fasting protects normal cells against chemotherapy and reduces the side effects of chemotherapy while increasing the lethality of cancer cells to chemotherapy.
Researchers injected mice with human cancer cells and then performed chemotherapy experiments on them. It was found that mice fasted for two days were still able to twitch after receiving high-dose chemotherapy, while half of the normal fed mice receiving the same chemotherapy died, and the survivors also became emaciated. Test tube experiments with human cells also confirmed that after a short period of starvation, normal cells and cancer cells showed different tolerance to chemotherapy - normal cells were better tolerated, and cancer cells were not, so short-term fasting looked To help improve the effectiveness of chemotherapy and reduce side effects.
Experts explained that this is because the response of normal cells and cancer cells is different in the face of starvation, and normal cells can better preserve themselves in starvation.