How fasting, as Chris Hemsworth did on his Disney+ series Limitless, may help us live longer by stopping ‘zombie cells’
- Thor actor Hemsworth fasted for five days to try to stay young, and tests on mice show periodic and intermittent fasting may help stave off illness and death
- This has to do with starving senescent cells damaged by ageing that ‘infect’ healthy ones, but how to fast without harm is still up for debate
Thor actor Chris Hemsworth fasted for five days in a bid to stay young for his Disney+ TV show Limitless, in which he explores different ways humans can live better for longer by taking on physical challenges.
The extreme challenge was based on the scientific theory that fasting stops the spread of toxic secretions from so-called zombie cells, which accelerates the ageing process. But does it actually work?
Zombie cells are damaged cells that have gone through a process of senescence, or deterioration because of ageing, and are no longer useful. Instead of dying off, these cells secrete proteins and inflammatory molecules that “infect” healthy cells, turning them senescent as well. This accelerates the ageing process.
In a 2011 study published in the British scientific journal Nature, it was found that eliminating these senescent cells “forestalled many of the ravages of age”.
Experiments on mice since this initial discovery have confirmed that senescent cells accumulate in ageing organs, and eliminating them can alleviate, or even prevent, certain illnesses.
