Immunomodulatory Effects of Fasting in Healthy Adults

Inclusion Criteria

• Age: 20-40 years, to constitute a young study population
• Gender: male subjects, to control for gender differences
• BMI: 19-27 kg/m2 to constitute a normal/healthy weight population
• Weight: 120 lbs or more
• Fasting glucose: 70-100 mg/dL, to ensure that fasting can be tolerated without inducing dangerously low levels of blood glucose
• Subjects must be willing to undergo a period of 36 hours of water-only fasting
• Subjects must be willing to collect samples of each bowel movement produced throughout the entire study period for microbiome analysis
• Subjects must be willing to collect blood pricks for blood glucose levels using a Contour Next One Blood Glucose Testing Kit during the fasting stage of the study protocol.

Exclusion Criteria

• Current smoking
• Anemia
• Pregnancy or current breastfeeding
• Chronic diseases including diabetes mellitus, thyroid disease, metabolic syndrome, cancer, or previous cardiovascular events
• Gastrointestinal diseases including irritable bowel syndrome, Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, celiac disease
• Consumption of >1 alcoholic drink/day
• Extreme dietary or exercise patterns
• Recent weight fluctuations (greater than 10% in the last six months)
• Regular use of over-the-counter allergy or pain medications (>1/week)
• Taking prescription lipid medications (e.g. statins) or other supplements known to alter lipoprotein metabolism such as isoflavones
• Use of hormonal birth control including oral contraception pills, hormonal IUDs or rings, or hormonal birth control patches