Research
Mixed
Fasting-induced changes in the gut microbiome (specifically enrichment of propionate production and depletion of Escherichia coli) and immune cells (MAIT cells) are associated with sustained blood pressure reduction, independent of weight loss.
The benefits of fasting on blood pressure appear linked to gut bacteria changes (increased propionate producers, decreased E. coli) and immune system modulation (reduced inflammatory MAIT cells). These changes occur independently of weight loss, suggesting a direct metabolic/immune mechanism.
ModerateQualifiesMEDIUM confidence
Fasting enriches for propionate production capacity... fasting permanently depleted Escherichia coli... network analysis revealed an association between non-classical monocytes, MAP and gut abundance of Betaproteobacteria... 95% of significant findings retain significance when BMI is added as a predictor
Why this rating
Observational correlations within an RCT; causality not proven.
Source
Fasting alters the gut microbiome reducing blood pressure and body weight in metabolic syndrome patients
András Maifeld et al. · Nature Communications · 2021
DOI 10.1038/s41467-021-22097-0
preprint · n=71Cited 195×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
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