Fasting also leads to the production of somatropin, which helps minimize wrinkles and fine lines. Here's the thing though, while fasting may provide skin benefits, what you eat outside of your fasting windows is just as, if not more important.
Caloric restriction with fasting has demonstrated improvement in multiple skin properties, including skin barrier function in both mice and humans [25]. Studies have also suggested that caloric restriction may improve the appearance of wrinkles and decrease the presence of oxidative stress [26,27].
This study from Japan showed that not only does fasting speed up metabolism, it may also reverse the ageing process. The study on 'what exactly happens when the body goes without food' was conducted by researchers from the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University (OIST) and Kyoto University.
Bottom line. Fasting benefits skin appearance by keeping it firm yet flexible, reducing loose skin while losing weight. Loose skin is usually the result of decreased skin elasticity due to a decline in collagen and elastin production. It can occur because of age, significant or rapid weight loss, and poor diet.
Your Body Makes New Skin Cells
Fasting induces a process called autophagy. Its mechanism allows for old damaged proteins to be renewed as your body goes into repair mode. Damaged cells are being recycled allowing for newer, healthier cells to take their place. This includes skin cells!
Speaking at the Facial Aesthetic Conference and Exhibition (FACE), she explained that after a 4-5 days of fasting the body starts to clean out the dead cells and boost its new stem cell production. The result: fresher looking skin.
Fasting has been found to stimulate the production of collagen, which can help to keep the skin looking youthful and healthy”. She added that fasting has also been found to reduce oxidative stress, which can help to protect the skin from damage and keep it looking healthy.
“Think of autophagy as a Roomba inside your cells, cleaning and clearing damaged parts,” says Whittel. “When autophagy functions optimally, it works to clear away the cellular junk that can lead to fat and wrinkles.”
Experts agree that the autophagy process initiates in humans after 18-20 hours of fasting, with max benefits occurring once the 48-72 hour mark has been reached.
This explains why some people experiment with skin fasting for a few days, experience issues, and run back to their products ASAP. Really, the skin just needs more time to adjust. “A week or two of skin fasting should be sufficient to let the skin reset and breathe,” Dr. Vickers says.
The Takeaway. Intermittent fasting is one of the easiest ways of building muscle, decreasing body fat and increasing your energy. And by triggering the cellular cleansing process of autophagy, intermittent fasting also improves your life span – and makes your skin look smoother and younger.
Intermittent fasting is fantastic for weight loss and may prevent aging skin for other reasons. Intermittent fasting makes your skin healthy and lends it a glow, because it lowers down your blood sugar levels, improves your insulin sensitivity. Your skin health is also connected to your mental health.
The researchers found that people who cut their calories slowed the pace of their aging by 2% to 3%, compared to people who were on a normal diet. That translates, Belsky said, to a 10% to 15% reduction in the likelihood of dying early.
As we get older it can increase to 50-days! Autophagy speeds the process of cell renewal and increases the rate collagen is produced. It's the ultimate anti-ageing therapy. Without this process, the skin looks dull and tired.
Laser resurfacing also gives you the fastest results. After you heal, you'll see tightening and fewer wrinkles within 2 weeks.
Loose skin after weight loss is not permanent and will disappear over time. After a month or two, you should no longer see excess skin hanging from your body. If you are still having problems with excess skin, then you should see a doctor.
“In some cases if lines are not deeply set into the skin, you can totally reverse them,” says New York-based dermatologist Joshua Zeichner. However, he cautions, “If lines are deeply etched into the skin, you may not be able to completely eliminate them.”
Fasting also has an anti-inflammatory effect. In addition to losing weight and strengthening the immune system, intermittent fasting helps the skin by detoxifying. Thus, the skin becomes cleaner and brighter, the irritations disappear, the fine wrinkles are attenuated.
How can I naturally rebuild collagen? You can naturally support the collagen production process by using topicals such as vitamin C and retinol, collagen peptide supplements, eating a nutrient rich diet, and avoiding habits that damage the collagen (such as poor sleep and sun exposure.)
Collagen provides a support structure for your skin, helping it to look plump and healthy, but your body makes less of it as you age. Drinking water helps with your body's production of collagen.
Fasting promotes the correct production of collagen by regulating your blood sugar levels. The result: plump, healthy skin.
Specifically, intermittent fasting can trigger autophagy, a "self-cleaning" process that clears out old, damaged cells and proteins to make room for new, healthy ones. And autophagy comes with loads of potential benefits1 , including enhanced brain health, blood sugar control—and, yep, glowing skin.