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Effects of Intermittent Fasting on Health, Aging, and Disease

List of authors.
  • Rafael de Cabo, Ph.D.,
  • and Mark P. Mattson, Ph.D.

Evidence is accumulating that eating in a 6-hour period and fasting for 18 hours can trigger a metabolic switch from glucose-based to ketone-based energy, with increased stress resistance, increased longevity, and a decreased incidence of diseases, including cancer and obesity.

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Funding and Disclosures

Disclosure forms provided by the authors are available with the full text of this article at NEJM.org.

This article was updated on December 26, 2019, at NEJM.org.

We thank Drs. Michel Bernier and Anne E. Burke for valuable input, Mr. Marc Raley for work on previous versions of the figures, Dr. David G. Le Couteur for assistance with the preparation of an earlier version of the manuscript, and the Intramural Research Program of the National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health, for its support.

Author Affiliations

From the Translational Gerontology Branch (R.C.) and the Laboratory of Neurosciences (M.P.M.), Intramural Research Program, National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health, and the Department of Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (M.P.M.) — both in Baltimore.

Address reprint requests to Dr. Mattson at the Department of Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 725 N. Wolfe St., Baltimore, MD 21205, or at .

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