1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:07,000 Life expectancy is increasing in western countries, but unfortunately... 2 00:00:14,359 --> 00:00:20,199 The conditions of modern life cause disease. That's why we have invented the term diseases 3 00:00:20,199 --> 00:00:22,400 of civilization. 4 00:00:22,400 --> 00:00:29,120 Diabetes, hypertension, obesity, cancer. The number of illnesses is exploding and the 5 00:00:29,160 --> 00:00:34,759 consumption of medication as well. The side effects of some of these chemical crutches 6 00:00:34,759 --> 00:00:41,920 regularly make news, creating an atmosphere of distrust. 7 00:00:41,920 --> 00:00:48,920 If we talk about treatment through medication, I can say that we have now... 8 00:00:49,679 --> 00:00:54,799 But maybe there's another therapeutic approach. An ancient method, praised by... 9 00:00:54,799 --> 00:00:57,439 long ignored by science. 10 00:00:57,439 --> 00:01:03,959 Fasting. In Russia, Germany and the United States, doctors and biologists have already 11 00:01:03,959 --> 00:01:08,079 been exploring this possibility for half a century. 12 00:01:08,079 --> 00:01:12,319 We wanted to know if it was visible in the laboratory at the hormonal level. 13 00:01:12,319 --> 00:01:19,319 Calorie restriction has an effect. Can we make it a lot bigger if we starve the... 14 00:01:19,759 --> 00:01:26,759 How does fasting work and what kinds of pathology is it useful for? The results ar... 15 00:01:27,679 --> 00:01:32,439 especially in the treatment of the disease of the century. 16 00:01:32,439 --> 00:01:39,439 This is a new approach to cancer therapy. Some people would call it a complementary 17 00:01:40,039 --> 00:01:42,839 approach. 18 00:01:42,839 --> 00:01:48,239 The results of this work open up unexpected perspectives and indicate a different... 19 00:01:48,239 --> 00:01:55,239 to disease and treatment. 20 00:02:11,120 --> 00:02:16,680 A unique experiment is taking place in the heart of Russia on the Siberian plains. 21 00:02:16,680 --> 00:02:23,680 Here for the last 15 years, fasting has become a central element of public health... 22 00:02:26,200 --> 00:02:31,400 That policy is based on 40 years of scientific studies unknown in the West, wh... 23 00:02:31,400 --> 00:02:37,040 out on thousands of patients in the former Soviet Union. 24 00:02:37,040 --> 00:02:44,040 This research gave birth to the rigorous methods which are practiced here. 25 00:02:44,439 --> 00:02:51,439 After four hours by bus on a difficult road, Lyubov Baranova reaches the Goryachinsk... 26 00:02:51,919 --> 00:02:58,919 She's come on the advice of her brother, who had been treated with a course of fasting. 27 00:03:00,159 --> 00:03:06,280 The shores of Lake Baikal are a few hundred yards away. The scenery is idyllic.... 28 00:03:06,280 --> 00:03:13,280 is famous for its hot springs and since 1995 for its center for fasting. 29 00:03:14,479 --> 00:03:19,479 The cures are covered by state health care and the whole building is reserved for the 30 00:03:19,479 --> 00:03:26,479 fasters. 31 00:03:29,359 --> 00:03:34,919 My brother was asthmatic. Sometimes he couldn't breathe. Then he couldn't sleep a... 32 00:03:34,919 --> 00:03:40,599 And he prevented everyone else from sleeping too. After reading an article about fasting, 33 00:03:40,599 --> 00:03:47,599 he decided to fast for 21 days. 34 00:03:48,199 --> 00:03:55,199 I had a terrible allergy to sweet things, like oranges, that sort of thing. I had been 35 00:03:56,840 --> 00:04:03,840 treating it for years, but nothing helped. My allergy came back after each treatment. 36 00:04:04,400 --> 00:04:11,400 By the seventh day he was fine. He was in good health. He'd believed that a miracle 37 00:04:12,599 --> 00:04:19,600 was possible and this method had cured him. He's fasted several times since. 38 00:04:21,720 --> 00:04:28,720 I was one of the first to come and fast here at Goryachinsk. I fasted for 18 days. 39 00:04:34,839 --> 00:04:41,839 Nobody knows how their body is going to react to food deprivation. Fasting is scary. 40 00:04:41,839 --> 00:04:48,839 The first stage of the treatment is reassuring newcomers. The patient's... 41 00:04:48,839 --> 00:04:55,839 essential. Very often we get people who have been in hospital, who have been in hospital 42 00:05:09,839 --> 00:05:16,839 for a long time, who have been in hospital for a long time, who have been in hospital 43 00:05:18,839 --> 00:05:25,839 for a long time. They've had the best clinical examinations, but nothing helped.... 44 00:05:25,839 --> 00:05:32,000 is a universal method that can be effective against several diseases. That's why people 45 00:05:32,000 --> 00:05:39,000 often come back to sort out their other problems with us. 46 00:05:39,959 --> 00:05:46,479 The treatment is absolutely simple. Drinking water, water, and more water for 12 days on 47 00:05:46,480 --> 00:05:53,480 average, and nothing else. Some fasts can last for three weeks, depending on the... 48 00:05:54,640 --> 00:06:00,640 and duration of the disease. For chronic conditions, medication is stopped after tw... 49 00:06:00,640 --> 00:06:07,640 days. Patients are then placed under medical supervision. This is crucial. A... 50 00:06:08,480 --> 00:06:13,520 approach to fasting is out of the question. The accompaniment of a professional trained 51 00:06:13,519 --> 00:06:20,519 in this practice is fundamental. During fasting, there's no real nutrient deficien... 52 00:06:26,639 --> 00:06:33,639 can observe a decrease in vitamin C, vitamin D, and E, and some other components of the 53 00:06:33,680 --> 00:06:40,680 metabolism. But these losses are not critical. 54 00:06:41,199 --> 00:06:47,120 In 15 years, 10,000 patients have followed courses of fasting here. Their medical... 55 00:06:47,120 --> 00:06:52,480 are kept in the archives. The patients came seeking treatment for problems of diabetes, 56 00:06:52,480 --> 00:06:57,879 asthma, hypertension, rheumatism, allergies, and so on. Nearly two-thirds of them saw 57 00:06:57,879 --> 00:07:04,879 their symptoms disappear after one or more courses of fasting. They all say that... 58 00:07:05,879 --> 00:07:10,839 oneself of food is not the hardest part. The sensation of hunger disappears after two 59 00:07:10,839 --> 00:07:17,839 or three days. The difficult part is what the people here called the acidosis crisis. 60 00:07:21,839 --> 00:07:26,399 Olga has not eaten for five days. She's already been through this phase, which... 61 00:07:26,399 --> 00:07:33,399 results in a feeling of weakness, nausea, or headaches. 62 00:07:35,719 --> 00:07:41,839 It's the price to pay for the adaptation of the organism to this radical change. The 63 00:07:41,839 --> 00:07:48,839 body must learn to live off its reserves. 64 00:07:49,560 --> 00:07:56,560 The third day was hard. Now it's more or less okay. My body is getting used to it. Today 65 00:07:56,920 --> 00:08:03,920 I feel better. But it's still not great. It's because up to the third day there is 66 00:08:04,680 --> 00:08:10,520 a process of elimination and detoxification. That's why it's a bit tough and the patients 67 00:08:10,520 --> 00:08:16,720 don't feel very well. After that it improves. The body cleanses itself and it gets better 68 00:08:16,720 --> 00:08:23,720 and better. 69 00:08:23,759 --> 00:08:30,439 According to Russian doctors, this crisis is a key step in the healing process. Analysis 70 00:08:30,439 --> 00:08:36,159 of the urine can indicate its peak and its duration. Changing its mode of nutrition 71 00:08:36,159 --> 00:08:43,159 makes the acidity of the blood increase. 72 00:08:43,759 --> 00:08:49,519 During the crisis all diseases get worse and sometimes patients have severe pain, as in 73 00:08:49,519 --> 00:08:55,320 the case of migraine for example, or pain in the joints in sufferers from gout or... 74 00:08:56,120 --> 00:09:03,120 But it doesn't last very long, usually no more than 24 to 36 hours. 75 00:09:04,060 --> 00:09:11,060 This crisis is a sign of a profound transformation in the body. The organism h... 76 00:09:13,440 --> 00:09:20,440 But how can it provide the fuel needed for its survival? 77 00:09:20,760 --> 00:09:27,760 The body has three fuels, glucose, fats and proteins. The essential fuel is glucose, 78 00:09:30,520 --> 00:09:37,320 which the body absolutely needs in order to function. The brain cannot do without it. 79 00:09:37,320 --> 00:09:44,320 But after a day of fasting, the glucose supply is exhausted. How does the organism... 80 00:09:45,200 --> 00:09:51,680 It soon makes glucose from protein and particularly from that found in the muscle... 81 00:09:51,680 --> 00:09:58,160 draw on its reserves of fat to create a substitute for glucose. 82 00:09:58,160 --> 00:10:05,160 This fasting fuel is known as ketone bodies. It is these ketone bodies that will be the 83 00:10:05,200 --> 00:10:11,120 main food supply for the brain. The work is done by the liver, which is the real factory 84 00:10:11,120 --> 00:10:18,120 for transformations in the body. 85 00:10:21,440 --> 00:10:28,440 After the crisis, the body finds a new equilibrium. There are treatments to help ... 86 00:10:28,639 --> 00:10:35,639 cope better with the fasting. Colonic irrigation, body wraps, saunas and massage... 87 00:10:36,199 --> 00:10:42,639 doctors also recommend two to three hours of exercise daily. 88 00:10:42,639 --> 00:10:49,639 All converge towards the same goal, to stimulate the organs of elimination. The... 89 00:10:50,679 --> 00:10:56,919 liver, lungs, skin are set to work. The body must be allowed to eliminate the waste... 90 00:10:56,919 --> 00:11:01,480 in the organism. 91 00:11:01,480 --> 00:11:08,480 Today is my fifth day of fasting. Look at my face and my eyes. I look like a young girl. 92 00:11:08,920 --> 00:11:15,920 No makeup, nothing. I'm a hundred percent natural. 93 00:11:17,920 --> 00:11:23,399 But even as the body adapts, the head doesn't always follow at the same rhythm. Patients 94 00:11:23,399 --> 00:11:28,480 have noticed that the psyche influences the body, and can sometimes make it feel needs 95 00:11:28,560 --> 00:11:35,560 that it no longer has. 96 00:11:36,320 --> 00:11:41,320 The third day was the most painful. It's not my stomach crying out to eat, it's my 97 00:11:41,320 --> 00:11:48,320 head. That's what's difficult. In your head you see crisps, coke and meat. Lots of meat. 98 00:11:53,320 --> 00:11:58,200 When this psychological hunger disappears, the senses are sharpened, and a certain sense 99 00:11:58,200 --> 00:12:05,200 of euphoria sets in. 100 00:12:07,000 --> 00:12:14,000 I have a feeling of freedom. I've realized that I'm strong. If I can fast, I can do 101 00:12:15,759 --> 00:12:21,280 anything. 102 00:12:21,280 --> 00:12:27,800 But how does fasting work? How is it that two-thirds of patients feel better? 103 00:12:28,319 --> 00:12:33,879 Of course that figure calls for caution. Is it a placebo effect? Or an effect of the 104 00:12:33,879 --> 00:12:39,159 euphoria that the brain experiences? Or have these changes that everyone describes been 105 00:12:39,159 --> 00:12:45,879 actually measured in the body with objective methods? 106 00:12:45,879 --> 00:12:52,519 To understand, we must go back sixty years, to the time when the Soviet Union was a... 107 00:12:52,519 --> 00:12:57,319 and researchers were not allowed to cross the Iron Curtain. The research was conducted 108 00:12:57,320 --> 00:13:04,320 in secret laboratories far from the West. As often happens in science, this scientific 109 00:13:04,360 --> 00:13:11,360 adventure started with a chance event, which happened to a researcher open to new ideas. 110 00:13:11,360 --> 00:13:18,360 In the Korsakov hospital in Moscow, the chemical straitjacket had replaced the... 111 00:13:18,960 --> 00:13:23,320 but the treatment was scarcely more humane. 112 00:13:23,320 --> 00:13:28,460 One day, faced with a patient who was prostrate and refusing to eat, a psychiatr... 113 00:13:28,460 --> 00:13:33,840 name of Yuri Nikolaev broke with tradition. He decided to let the patient follow his 114 00:13:33,840 --> 00:13:39,200 instinct instead of obeying the usual protocol of forcing him to eat. In his... 115 00:13:39,200 --> 00:13:42,320 the psychiatrist noted with surprise, 116 00:13:42,320 --> 00:13:49,320 From the fifth day, his negativity began to decrease, and the patient opened his eyes. 117 00:13:49,960 --> 00:13:55,879 On the tenth day, he started to walk, but still didn't speak. On the fifteenth day, 118 00:13:55,879 --> 00:14:02,760 he drank a glass of apple juice left on his nightstand. Then he went for a walk, and... 119 00:14:02,760 --> 00:14:08,960 to return to social life. 120 00:14:08,960 --> 00:14:14,040 The man eventually recovered. The case was unique, a mentally ill patient treated by 121 00:14:14,039 --> 00:14:21,039 fasting. Yuri Nikolaev was surprised by the almost miraculous effectiveness of the... 122 00:14:22,439 --> 00:14:29,159 Fifteen years later, he had continued to experiment with it and develop it. 123 00:14:29,159 --> 00:14:35,240 The success exceeded his expectations, and the waiting list of patients kept growing. 124 00:14:35,240 --> 00:14:40,099 Nikolaev treated schizophrenia, depression, phobias, and obsessive syndromes using an 125 00:14:40,100 --> 00:14:47,100 average period of fasting of 25 to 30 days, and sometimes even 40. 126 00:14:54,860 --> 00:15:00,180 In a small apartment in Moscow, where his father also lived, Nikolaev's son remembers 127 00:15:00,180 --> 00:15:07,180 the increasingly strong opposition of the medical world. 128 00:15:07,179 --> 00:15:14,179 The doctors were opposed to fasting because they did not understand the essence of it. 129 00:15:16,899 --> 00:15:22,579 People usually think of being hungry as something bad. You need to turn your head... 130 00:15:22,579 --> 00:15:28,739 to accept the idea that fasting can cure, and it's even more difficult for a doctor 131 00:15:28,739 --> 00:15:35,419 than for an ordinary person. 132 00:15:35,419 --> 00:15:40,579 To silence the critics and make scientific history, Nikolaev undertook a vast research 133 00:15:40,579 --> 00:15:47,579 programme. Physiological and biochemical tests, hormonal parameters, and encephalog... 134 00:15:48,740 --> 00:15:55,740 were studied during and after fasting, in hundreds of cases. 135 00:15:56,019 --> 00:16:00,659 The psychiatrists established a correspondence between the observed change... 136 00:16:00,659 --> 00:16:06,740 fasting and the improvement of the patient. 137 00:16:06,740 --> 00:16:13,740 Fasting has an impact not only on mental illness, but also the entire personality. 138 00:16:16,699 --> 00:16:23,699 The young Dr. Govich was part of the research team. He worked for 18 years with the master. 139 00:16:23,700 --> 00:16:30,700 Fasting has a stimulant and an antidepressant effect. The stimulant effect takes place 140 00:16:31,259 --> 00:16:35,980 during the first week of fasting and the antidepressant effect in the first week of 141 00:16:35,980 --> 00:16:42,620 starting to eat again. The third type of effect is a calming sedative effect. It ca... 142 00:16:42,620 --> 00:16:49,620 after the crisis of acidosis. 143 00:16:49,860 --> 00:16:56,860 Nikolaev treated 8,000 patients with fasting with a marked improvement in 70% of cases. 144 00:16:57,539 --> 00:17:04,539 Six years later, 47% had maintained that improvement. Some could resume a normal life 145 00:17:04,660 --> 00:17:08,700 and raise a family. 146 00:17:08,700 --> 00:17:13,579 But there was another surprise. Nikolaev and his team noticed that not only the psyche 147 00:17:13,579 --> 00:17:19,619 of patients improved, but also their physical ailments such as hypertension, arthritis, 148 00:17:19,619 --> 00:17:26,460 asthma and eczema. He appealed to the government. The Ministry of Health was... 149 00:17:26,460 --> 00:17:32,899 launched a campaign to check the results. This was in 1973. 150 00:17:32,899 --> 00:17:38,379 It conferred the task to several well-known doctors, among them Professor Kokosov and 151 00:17:38,460 --> 00:17:45,460 Professor Maximov. Both were military doctors. They obeyed orders. 152 00:17:47,660 --> 00:17:53,220 Until then I knew nothing about fasting, so I had two objectives. To verify if the method 153 00:17:53,220 --> 00:17:59,740 worked, and if so, to explain why. 154 00:17:59,740 --> 00:18:06,740 We had to study the secretions of the stomach, liver, pancreas and intestines, t... 155 00:18:06,740 --> 00:18:13,740 profile, the level of immunity and the exchange of minerals and vitamins. 156 00:18:15,140 --> 00:18:19,579 The workload kept increasing with thousands of patients. The researchers confirmed the 157 00:18:19,579 --> 00:18:25,460 results of Nikolaev. They compiled precise lists of indications and contraindications 158 00:18:25,460 --> 00:18:28,220 for fasting. 159 00:18:28,220 --> 00:18:35,220 Indications. Bronchial disorders, cardiovascular disorders, gastrointestinal... 160 00:18:35,940 --> 00:18:42,940 disorders, digestive disorders, bone or joint disorders, skin disorders. 161 00:18:42,940 --> 00:18:48,940 Contraindications. Cancers, tuberculosis, diabetes of the type 1, chronic hepatitis, 162 00:18:48,940 --> 00:18:55,940 thrombophlebitis, anorexia. But how can you explain the effects of fasting? 163 00:18:56,539 --> 00:19:03,539 Fasting causes a state of stress. This activates sanogenesis, or recovery... 164 00:19:03,539 --> 00:19:10,539 regulatory processes that are usually inactive because of our lifestyle. 165 00:19:11,659 --> 00:19:18,659 Stress seems to be the central point. Stress is an adaptive response to environmental... 166 00:19:18,779 --> 00:19:25,779 in this case food deprivation. 167 00:19:26,500 --> 00:19:33,500 Faced with starvation, the body triggers an alert. This sets off hormonal, a... 168 00:19:33,579 --> 00:19:39,980 changes. The hormones mobilize the body's reserves. Some also have an anti-inflammatory 169 00:19:39,980 --> 00:19:42,899 effect. 170 00:19:42,899 --> 00:19:49,500 For the Russian doctors, it is these self-regulatory mechanisms that produce... 171 00:19:49,500 --> 00:19:54,940 Many aspects of blood composition improve, for instance, the levels of glucose,... 172 00:19:54,940 --> 00:19:57,460 triglyceride and insulin. 173 00:19:58,259 --> 00:20:03,660 Meanwhile, the energy expenditure of the body gradually decreases. Breathing and heart 174 00:20:03,660 --> 00:20:10,660 beats slow down, and blood pressure drops. The digestive system goes into a state of 175 00:20:11,180 --> 00:20:14,180 rest. 176 00:20:14,180 --> 00:20:21,180 So, if fasting has the ability to stimulate the healing powers of the body, how can we 177 00:20:22,180 --> 00:20:25,940 measure that capacity? 178 00:20:25,940 --> 00:20:32,940 Professor Ozenin is a specialist in bronchial asthma. A student of Kokosov, this... 179 00:20:32,980 --> 00:20:39,340 has treated nearly 10,000 asthmatic patients through fasting. In 40 years of practice, 180 00:20:39,340 --> 00:20:45,539 there's not been a single accident, he confides. Ozenin's research has indicated... 181 00:20:45,539 --> 00:20:48,539 cells in the lungs mucosa. 182 00:20:51,740 --> 00:20:57,100 These black cells reveal a presence of histamine, which causes a hypersecretion... 183 00:20:57,100 --> 00:21:03,820 to bronchial spasms. After 12 days of fasting, there is no more histamine, the... 184 00:21:03,820 --> 00:21:08,820 filled with lipids and the spasms have disappeared. 185 00:21:08,820 --> 00:21:15,820 These data are unique because these particular questions have never been asked... 186 00:21:15,819 --> 00:21:22,819 no equivalent anywhere in the world. We studied both general changes in the body a... 187 00:21:22,819 --> 00:21:29,819 changes. And we saw the disappearance of substances which lead to edema and... 188 00:21:31,819 --> 00:21:38,819 Bronchial asthma is a chronic disease. It cannot, according to conventional medicine, 189 00:21:38,819 --> 00:21:44,819 be healed, but only be contained. Many patients are condemned to rely on inhalers... 190 00:21:44,819 --> 00:21:49,819 treatments that temporarily relieve their symptoms. Ozenin's work shows that it's 191 00:21:49,819 --> 00:21:52,819 possible to escape this fate. 192 00:21:53,819 --> 00:21:59,819 The pulmonologist has also analyzed the long-term effects. His study involved near... 193 00:21:59,819 --> 00:22:04,819 After seven years, the improvement persisted for 50% of patients, those who adopted... 194 00:22:04,819 --> 00:22:09,819 eating habits after the period of fasting. Sometimes several treatments were necessary. 195 00:22:09,819 --> 00:22:14,819 10 to 15% were completely cured. 196 00:22:16,819 --> 00:22:21,819 Experimental data was collected from the four corners of the Soviet Union, with one... 197 00:22:21,819 --> 00:22:28,819 to establish fasting as part of public health policy. The Academy of Sciences validated 198 00:22:28,819 --> 00:22:34,819 the results and published them in impressive collections, which have never been... 199 00:22:35,819 --> 00:22:40,819 Despite the magnitude of this work, which has no parallel elsewhere, and the wealth 200 00:22:40,819 --> 00:22:45,819 of clinical descriptions and the number of diseases covered, some gray areas still... 201 00:22:47,819 --> 00:22:53,819 Yes, the lab results show that it works. But why? How do the mechanisms that we call 202 00:22:53,819 --> 00:22:59,819 sanogenesis get set in motion? What is sanogenesis? I still don't have an answer ... 203 00:22:59,819 --> 00:23:04,819 Could the answer come from researchers in the West? Over here, no state has ever funded 204 00:23:04,819 --> 00:23:09,819 that kind of research. The pharmaceutical industry is of course not interested.... 205 00:23:09,819 --> 00:23:14,819 the practice of fasting is growing, and has recently made its entry into the political 206 00:23:14,819 --> 00:23:17,819 and scientific arena. 207 00:23:20,819 --> 00:23:25,819 The next stop in our journey is Germany. In this country, 15 to 20% of the population 208 00:23:25,819 --> 00:23:30,819 claims to have already fasted. The oldest center for fasting was created on the shores 209 00:23:30,819 --> 00:23:36,819 of Lake Constance nearly 60 years ago. The motto here is the same as on the shores of 210 00:23:36,819 --> 00:23:41,819 Lake Baikal, eliminate. And the elimination is done in a group. The Bushinga Clinic's 211 00:23:41,819 --> 00:23:46,819 reputation has crossed frontiers. 2000 people stay here every year. 212 00:23:46,819 --> 00:23:51,819 The Bushinga Clinic has a very large population, and it is the largest in the... 213 00:23:51,819 --> 00:23:56,819 The Bushinga Clinic has a very large population, and it is the largest in the... 214 00:23:56,819 --> 00:24:00,819 They come to seek relief from chronic illnesses, and also for the prevention and... 215 00:24:00,819 --> 00:24:05,819 risk factors such as hypertension, diabetes and obesity. 216 00:24:10,819 --> 00:24:15,819 Usually, Jürgen Ball wears a suit and tie. 217 00:24:16,819 --> 00:24:22,819 And no one puts a hot water bottle on his liver. Normally, he works in a glass tower 218 00:24:22,819 --> 00:24:25,819 in Zurich. 219 00:24:28,819 --> 00:24:33,819 I'm a banker, and I had to travel in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. If you want 220 00:24:33,819 --> 00:24:40,819 to do business there, you must drink vodka and eat fatty food. The effects have... 221 00:24:41,819 --> 00:24:48,819 over the years. My liver had grown 7 cm, and I had very bad blood test results. My GP, 222 00:24:48,819 --> 00:24:53,819 who is also a cardiologist, told me that's enough. Either you change jobs and finish 223 00:24:53,819 --> 00:24:58,819 with Moscow, forget Russia, no more vodka, or you take up fasting. 224 00:25:00,819 --> 00:25:05,819 And personally, I couldn't imagine being able to fast. It seemed impossible for me 225 00:25:05,819 --> 00:25:10,819 not to eat anything for three weeks and be hungry all day without a glass of wine. 226 00:25:10,819 --> 00:25:13,819 I'm a gourmet. I couldn't do it. 227 00:25:17,819 --> 00:25:22,819 After the first treatment, Mr. Ball's liver shrunk back to its proper size, and his blood 228 00:25:22,819 --> 00:25:27,819 tests went back to normal. Since then, he keeps an eye on his diet and returns each 229 00:25:27,819 --> 00:25:32,819 year to Oberlingen. A spell of fasting resets his counters to zero. 230 00:25:36,819 --> 00:25:41,819 No, these are not the traditional glasses of water. As a small departure from the rigours 231 00:25:41,819 --> 00:25:47,819 of fasting, a light soup or fruit juice is served twice a day. These 250 calories a 232 00:25:47,819 --> 00:25:52,819 day soften the crisis of acidosis and make the first days easier. 233 00:25:54,819 --> 00:25:59,819 That is a particular feature of the method developed by Otto Buschinger, the man who 234 00:25:59,819 --> 00:26:05,819 created the centre. He was an army medical officer who suffered from rheumatic fever 235 00:26:05,819 --> 00:26:11,819 and was sentenced to a wheelchair by doctors in 1918. He recovered with two successive 236 00:26:11,819 --> 00:26:17,819 fasts. This dramatic recovery led him to explore the therapeutic possibilities of... 237 00:26:17,819 --> 00:26:23,819 create a treatment centre. Today it's become a reference in Germany. Treatments last... 238 00:26:23,819 --> 00:26:25,819 one and three weeks. 239 00:26:30,819 --> 00:26:36,819 Pauline Vallique has come to the Buschinger Clinic for the second time this year. This 240 00:26:36,819 --> 00:26:41,819 interpreter, who lives in Switzerland, suffers from severe rheumatism. 241 00:26:45,819 --> 00:26:48,819 She has decided to fast for 12 days. 242 00:26:50,819 --> 00:26:56,819 Did I think I wouldn't be able to move anymore? Yes, I did. Last year I really ha... 243 00:26:56,819 --> 00:27:01,819 of despair. I said to myself, I'm still too young to be bedridden. But that was going 244 00:27:01,819 --> 00:27:05,819 to be my life, especially since I live alone. 245 00:27:08,819 --> 00:27:16,819 I arrived in February stuffed with pain medication. I had been taking... 246 00:27:16,819 --> 00:27:22,819 been taking cortisone, all the stuff they normally give. And I was exhausted by it 247 00:27:22,819 --> 00:27:29,819 all. I felt completely worn out. The fasting has been the opposite of what you might... 248 00:27:29,819 --> 00:27:35,819 Instead of wearing myself out even more, I feel that I'm totally purifying myself. My 249 00:27:35,819 --> 00:27:42,819 body has found the energy to bounce back. I'm not saying that I was running and leaping 250 00:27:42,819 --> 00:27:48,819 out of the centre, but I do feel like my body can now heal itself. 251 00:27:52,819 --> 00:27:57,819 I thought I'd always be stuck on medication, but I'm not. I've stopped. 252 00:28:03,819 --> 00:28:08,819 Depending on the severity of the disease and how long it has been established, stopping 253 00:28:08,819 --> 00:28:10,819 medication is not always possible. 254 00:28:15,819 --> 00:28:20,819 This patient comes twice a year for a stay at the clinic. Suffering from very advanced 255 00:28:20,819 --> 00:28:26,819 psoriatic arthritis, he'd end imagined that he'll be completely cured. In this case, 256 00:28:26,819 --> 00:28:31,819 Dr. Drinder, a rheumatologist who has worked nine years in a university hospital, is... 257 00:28:31,819 --> 00:28:34,819 to reduce the doses of drugs through fasting. 258 00:28:42,819 --> 00:28:47,819 We also know this phenomenon in the case of rheumatoid polyarthritis. It has been shown 259 00:28:48,819 --> 00:28:54,819 that when fasting, we need less non-steroid anti-inflammatory drugs. That's a good thing, 260 00:28:54,819 --> 00:28:58,819 because the side effects of these drugs are not negligible. 261 00:29:08,819 --> 00:29:14,819 Mr. Baal will end his fast tonight. It's a crucial moment. Eating unsuitably and too 262 00:29:14,819 --> 00:29:19,819 much would jeopardize the success of the treatment, and could even be very dangerous. 263 00:29:19,819 --> 00:29:26,819 The body must get used to food slowly. So the period of starting to eat again is tightly 264 00:29:26,819 --> 00:29:29,819 controlled, both in Germany and Russia. 265 00:29:33,819 --> 00:29:40,819 Paradise. I always look forward to this moment, but in a way I'm pleased. On the... 266 00:29:41,819 --> 00:29:46,819 I have some nostalgia, because it was a good experience. Anyway, if it's a soup or... 267 00:29:46,819 --> 00:29:47,819 I really enjoy it. 268 00:29:47,819 --> 00:29:49,819 Are you impatient or not? 269 00:29:49,819 --> 00:29:52,819 A little bit, yes, a little bit. 270 00:29:54,819 --> 00:30:00,819 We should be able to lead the healthcare market with fasting as the central element... 271 00:30:00,819 --> 00:30:06,819 there is an extraordinarily lucrative market for the treatment of disease, especially... 272 00:30:06,819 --> 00:30:12,819 diseases. When a diabetic becomes chronic, that is an opening to sell medication for 273 00:30:12,819 --> 00:30:19,819 several decades, or do operations. So it's quite a fertile market. 274 00:30:24,819 --> 00:30:29,819 Putting fasting at the center of the healthcare market, taking on the chemical... 275 00:30:29,819 --> 00:30:35,819 disease, and cutting the profits of the pharmaceutical laboratories, that's a long... 276 00:30:35,819 --> 00:30:41,819 But in Germany, things are starting to change. Here, for nearly ten years, in an... 277 00:30:41,819 --> 00:30:46,819 Berlin's Charité Hospital, the largest public hospital in Europe, one floor of a building 278 00:30:46,819 --> 00:30:51,819 is reserved for patients being treated by fasting. A dozen public hospitals do the 279 00:30:51,819 --> 00:30:56,819 same. The practice is gradually finding its place in the arsenal of official medicine. 280 00:30:56,819 --> 00:31:01,819 Professor Michelson has conducted several scientific studies on fasting. He offers 281 00:31:01,819 --> 00:31:08,819 this therapy to patients suffering from rheumatism, metabolic syndrome, or heart... 282 00:31:08,819 --> 00:31:14,819 treatments are reimbursed by the social security system. Nearly 500 patients under... 283 00:31:14,819 --> 00:31:20,819 here every year. Following the Bushinger method, demand is increasing, and the serv... 284 00:31:20,819 --> 00:31:25,819 to refuse patients for lack of space. Without being aware of the Russians' work, Michelson 285 00:31:25,819 --> 00:31:30,819 has also measured hormonal changes in the body. 286 00:31:30,819 --> 00:31:35,819 In many studies on patients, we found the presence of epinephrine, norepinephrine, 287 00:31:35,819 --> 00:31:41,819 dopamine, leptin, and serotonin. That is to say, hormones that have a strong regulatory 288 00:31:41,819 --> 00:31:46,819 influence. In the case of patients with a high level of stress, the stress is not only 289 00:31:46,819 --> 00:31:51,819 the stress, but also the mood. 290 00:31:51,819 --> 00:31:56,819 The level of serotonin, often called happiness hormone, is increased. Like the... 291 00:31:56,819 --> 00:32:01,819 psychiatrists, Michelson has seen an improvement in mood in patients who fast. ... 292 00:32:01,819 --> 00:32:06,819 a reduction of pain and an improved sensitivity of the insulin receptors. 293 00:32:06,819 --> 00:32:11,819 In the case of patients with a high level of stress, the stress is not only the stress, 294 00:32:11,819 --> 00:32:15,819 but also the mood. He also noticed a reduction of pain and an improved sensitiv... 295 00:32:15,819 --> 00:32:19,819 insulin receptors. 296 00:32:19,819 --> 00:32:23,819 He found that fasters showed an increased readiness to adopt a healthier lifestyle... 297 00:32:23,819 --> 00:32:28,819 the fast, which would be conducive to maintaining good health. 298 00:32:28,819 --> 00:32:33,819 If I had been studying a new drug and got these results, I would certainly be getting 299 00:32:33,819 --> 00:32:38,819 calls every day with proposals, financial aid, and money for a service. 300 00:32:38,819 --> 00:32:43,819 But when it comes to fasting, people just say, hmm, that's interesting. But there 301 00:32:43,819 --> 00:32:48,819 is no real encouragement for the research. It has to change. It's very easy for critics 302 00:32:48,819 --> 00:32:53,819 and skeptics to say that there are not enough studies, when we know that no funding is 303 00:32:53,819 --> 00:32:58,819 granted for just those studies. 304 00:32:58,819 --> 00:33:03,819 Now, the problem with fasts is that they are not as effective as they are for the 305 00:33:03,819 --> 00:33:08,819 studies. 306 00:33:08,819 --> 00:33:13,819 Michel Sen is no longer focusing on the fundamental mechanisms of fasting. As a... 307 00:33:13,819 --> 00:33:18,819 every day with an increasing number of chronic diseases, it's in this area that h... 308 00:33:18,819 --> 00:33:23,819 sees a need. 309 00:33:23,819 --> 00:33:28,819 We need two or three major serious studies. I'd say for rheumatism and rheumatoid 310 00:33:28,819 --> 00:33:33,819 arthritis, diabetes, and hypertension. Three really convincing bits of research, which 311 00:33:33,819 --> 00:33:38,819 would show that fasting has its place in therapy, just as much as drugs. 312 00:33:38,819 --> 00:33:43,819 It would take millions of euros, but the funds are not exactly queuing up at the door 313 00:33:43,819 --> 00:33:48,819 of Michel Sen's laboratory. 314 00:33:48,819 --> 00:33:53,819 The research is still ongoing. But the research is still ongoing. 315 00:33:53,819 --> 00:33:58,819 The research is still ongoing. 316 00:33:58,819 --> 00:34:03,819 On the other hand, critics of fasting continue to brandish a compelling argument. 317 00:34:03,819 --> 00:34:08,819 Fasting is dangerous. 318 00:34:08,819 --> 00:34:13,819 So what are the facts? How can we know the body's limits for fasting? 319 00:34:13,819 --> 00:34:18,819 It's impossible to conduct such experiments on humans for obvious ethical reasons. 320 00:34:18,820 --> 00:34:23,820 The study of life can provide an answer. That answer will throw a remarkable light on 321 00:34:23,820 --> 00:34:28,820 the mystery of its mechanisms. But let's not jump ahead. 322 00:34:28,820 --> 00:34:33,820 In the frozen lands of the 323 00:34:33,820 --> 00:34:38,820 Antarctic continent, there's a strange bird that's fascinated scientists for decades. 324 00:34:38,820 --> 00:34:43,820 The male emperor penguin practices fasting 325 00:34:43,820 --> 00:34:48,820 spontaneously in his colony on the ice. 326 00:34:48,820 --> 00:34:53,820 While he's sitting on the egg, waiting for the female to return, 327 00:34:53,820 --> 00:34:58,820 the male is able to go without food for as much as four months. 328 00:34:58,820 --> 00:35:03,820 This extraordinary faculty has always amazed 329 00:35:03,820 --> 00:35:08,820 Yvon Le Maillot. Early on, the researcher asked himself, 330 00:35:08,820 --> 00:35:13,820 Is the emperor penguin 331 00:35:13,820 --> 00:35:18,820 a professional faster, with mechanisms that don't exist in man or in other animals? 332 00:35:18,820 --> 00:35:23,820 In his CNRS 333 00:35:23,820 --> 00:35:28,820 laboratory in Strasbourg, Yvon Le Maillot brought together all that has been 334 00:35:28,820 --> 00:35:33,820 written in the West on the subject. But he couldn't find the answer. 335 00:35:33,820 --> 00:35:38,820 However, there are a few certainties. Fasting can be dangerous, because as the body 336 00:35:38,820 --> 00:35:43,820 feeds on its own resources, it's using up its reserves of protein. 337 00:35:43,820 --> 00:35:48,820 But the muscles are composed of protein, and the heart is a muscle. 338 00:35:48,820 --> 00:35:53,820 When half of the proteins have disappeared, death ensues. 339 00:35:53,820 --> 00:35:58,820 Yvon Le Maillot and his colleagues decided to measure the percentage of protein used up ... 340 00:35:58,820 --> 00:36:03,820 during fasting. This figure is critical to determining the limits of what is possible. 341 00:36:03,820 --> 00:36:08,820 The result was remarkable. 342 00:36:08,820 --> 00:36:13,820 During most of their fast, proteins provided only 4% of their daily energy expenditure. 343 00:36:13,820 --> 00:36:18,820 Fats provided 96%. 344 00:36:18,820 --> 00:36:23,820 The body is perfect. It saves its proteins. 345 00:36:23,820 --> 00:36:28,820 We can divide the fasting process into three phases. 346 00:36:28,820 --> 00:36:33,820 Remember the body depletes its reserves of glucose within 24 hours. From then on, it... 347 00:36:33,820 --> 00:36:38,820 from its protein reserves. A second phase starts, in which it economizes on protein 348 00:36:38,820 --> 00:36:43,820 and makes use of lipids instead. 349 00:36:43,820 --> 00:36:48,820 This phase can last for a long time, depending on the supply of fat available. 350 00:36:48,820 --> 00:36:53,820 The penguins are able to survive for days without problems. 351 00:36:53,820 --> 00:36:58,820 But little by little, the fat reserves are depleted. When 80% of the stock of fat has... 352 00:36:58,820 --> 00:37:03,820 the proteins are no longer saved. The animal enters phase 3 and must eat before it's to... 353 00:37:10,820 --> 00:37:15,820 But do other animals have the same mechanism? 354 00:37:15,820 --> 00:37:20,820 The research team at the University of Paris, which works with Yvon Lemao, 355 00:37:20,820 --> 00:37:25,820 is conducting an experiment with rats, animals that don't have the reputation of... 356 00:37:25,820 --> 00:37:30,820 fastest. They're weighed daily and their urine is sampled. 357 00:37:30,820 --> 00:37:35,820 How will the rats adapt to fasting? Will their proteins run out faster than those o... 358 00:37:35,820 --> 00:37:40,820 Surprisingly enough, 359 00:37:40,820 --> 00:37:45,820 the results are similar. During phase 2, the rat saves its proteins in the same manner 360 00:37:45,820 --> 00:37:50,820 as the penguin. 361 00:37:50,820 --> 00:37:55,820 So there's no difference. A basic fasting mechanism, which allows the individual 362 00:37:55,820 --> 00:38:00,820 to survive long periods of starvation, is a common mechanism. 363 00:38:00,820 --> 00:38:05,820 This observation opens up unexpected perspectives, 364 00:38:05,820 --> 00:38:10,820 with huge implications. 365 00:38:10,820 --> 00:38:15,820 If the mechanism is common, it means that this mechanism has existed 366 00:38:15,820 --> 00:38:20,820 ever since there have been animals on Earth. And we can see that man has the same... 367 00:38:20,820 --> 00:38:25,820 So fasting, instead of being something dangerous, 368 00:38:25,820 --> 00:38:30,820 is an adaptation, which has existed from the earliest days of life on Earth, 369 00:38:30,820 --> 00:38:35,820 and which, at least within the limits we have identified, 370 00:38:35,820 --> 00:38:40,820 presents no danger. 371 00:38:40,820 --> 00:38:45,820 The ability to fast must have been a coping mechanism shaped by evolutionary history. 372 00:38:45,820 --> 00:38:50,820 On that scale, there's not much of a gap between penguins and man. 373 00:38:50,820 --> 00:38:55,820 Scientific research has shown that an adult, 374 00:38:55,820 --> 00:39:00,820 1.70m tall, weighing 70kg, has around 15kg of fat reserves. 375 00:39:00,820 --> 00:39:05,820 Enough for a healthy person to keep going for 40 days. 376 00:39:05,820 --> 00:39:10,820 From the perspective of evolution, 377 00:39:10,820 --> 00:39:15,820 it is likely that survival normally involved periods of fasting. 378 00:39:15,820 --> 00:39:20,820 The situation we have today, with regular meals and a well-stocked fridge, 379 00:39:20,820 --> 00:39:25,820 is a historical anomaly. 380 00:39:25,820 --> 00:39:30,820 So it's not surprising that the body encounters difficulties 381 00:39:30,820 --> 00:39:35,820 when it doesn't fast and eats constantly. 382 00:39:35,820 --> 00:39:40,820 Our genetic heritage appears to be less adapted to this situation than it is to... 383 00:39:40,820 --> 00:39:45,820 So it seems that our body is better equipped 384 00:39:45,820 --> 00:39:50,820 to deal with lack of food than excess. 385 00:39:50,820 --> 00:39:55,820 So does fasting activate atavistic reflexes, 386 00:39:55,820 --> 00:40:00,820 rooted in the body's memory? 387 00:40:00,820 --> 00:40:05,820 If that hypothesis is valid, and the ability to fast is inherited from our evolution, 388 00:40:05,820 --> 00:40:10,820 it must be observable in the genetic code. 389 00:40:10,820 --> 00:40:15,820 It must be crazy enough to try and find what no one is looking for. 390 00:40:22,820 --> 00:40:27,820 Valter Longo is a young Italian researcher working in a laboratory at USC, 391 00:40:27,820 --> 00:40:32,820 the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. 392 00:40:32,820 --> 00:40:37,820 His field is gerontology, 393 00:40:37,820 --> 00:40:42,820 the mysteries of aging. 394 00:40:42,820 --> 00:40:47,820 At 16 he emigrated to the United States 395 00:40:47,820 --> 00:40:52,820 in the hope of becoming a rock star. 396 00:40:52,820 --> 00:40:57,820 Now he's an internationally renowned biologist. 397 00:41:03,820 --> 00:41:08,820 Like all gerontologists, 398 00:41:08,820 --> 00:41:13,820 Valter Longo has a goal, 399 00:41:13,820 --> 00:41:18,820 delaying chronic diseases that appear with age, such as Alzheimer's and cancer, 400 00:41:18,820 --> 00:41:23,820 and generally slowing down the effects of aging. 401 00:41:23,820 --> 00:41:28,820 Researchers have shown that reducing the food supply of an animal over a long period 402 00:41:28,820 --> 00:41:33,820 of time is a good thing. 403 00:41:33,820 --> 00:41:38,820 One day he decided to take a decisive step. 404 00:41:38,820 --> 00:41:43,820 Why not try the extreme form of caloric restriction, fasting? 405 00:41:43,820 --> 00:41:48,820 The idea seemed ludicrous, especially in those sophisticated laboratories in... 406 00:41:48,820 --> 00:41:53,820 but not to Longo. 407 00:41:53,820 --> 00:41:58,820 He had a lot of toxins. 408 00:41:58,820 --> 00:42:03,820 He would test it with one of the most toxic of all, chemotherapy, 409 00:42:03,820 --> 00:42:08,820 the poison for destroying cancer. 410 00:42:08,820 --> 00:42:13,820 He took mice with cancer and separated them into two groups. 411 00:42:13,820 --> 00:42:18,820 One group was fed normally, the second group fasted for 48 hours. 412 00:42:18,820 --> 00:42:23,820 He then injected the mice with high doses of chemotherapy, 413 00:42:23,820 --> 00:42:28,820 doses three to five times higher than those allowed in humans. 414 00:42:28,820 --> 00:42:33,820 Those who were fed with cancer were the ones who were most likely to die. 415 00:42:33,820 --> 00:42:38,820 He then tested the mice with a chemical called L-A-B-E-C-E. 416 00:42:38,820 --> 00:42:43,820 The mice were very sensitive to the bacteria, 417 00:42:43,820 --> 00:42:48,820 and they were very sensitive to the bacteria. 418 00:42:48,820 --> 00:42:53,820 He then tested the mice with a chemical called L-A-B-E-C-E. 419 00:42:53,820 --> 00:42:58,820 The mice were very sensitive to the bacteria. 420 00:42:58,820 --> 00:43:03,820 The mice were very sensitive to the bacteria. 421 00:43:03,820 --> 00:43:08,820 He then tested the mice with a chemical called L-A-B-E-C-E. 422 00:43:08,820 --> 00:43:13,820 She called me up and said, 423 00:43:13,820 --> 00:43:18,820 you won't believe the results. It looks like all the fasted mice are alive 424 00:43:18,820 --> 00:43:23,820 and all the mice on the normal diet are dead. 425 00:43:23,820 --> 00:43:28,820 So of course I was very happy because it was more than I was expecting. 426 00:43:28,820 --> 00:43:33,820 So I asked her to repeat it, and I asked the people here to repeat it, 427 00:43:33,820 --> 00:43:38,820 and both of them came back with exactly the same results. 428 00:43:38,820 --> 00:43:43,820 This is a video showing the behaviour of the two groups treated with Tamasola. 429 00:43:43,820 --> 00:43:48,820 In these images filmed by the laboratory, 430 00:43:48,820 --> 00:43:53,820 the differences between the two groups of mice are obvious. 431 00:43:53,820 --> 00:43:58,820 On the one side, those who fasted seemed perfectly healthy. 432 00:43:58,820 --> 00:44:03,820 Their hair is smooth, their tissues are not damaged, 433 00:44:03,820 --> 00:44:08,820 and their cognitive functions seem intact. 434 00:44:08,820 --> 00:44:13,820 Here on the right are the mice who ate normally. 435 00:44:13,820 --> 00:44:18,820 In the end, only 35% survived. 436 00:44:18,820 --> 00:44:23,820 They're in bad shape, and they just lie prostrate in their cages. 437 00:44:23,820 --> 00:44:28,820 The news was a bombshell. 438 00:44:28,820 --> 00:44:33,820 As soon as the study was published in a scientific journal, the press was talking... 439 00:44:33,820 --> 00:44:38,820 The results for the moment only concern mice. 440 00:44:38,820 --> 00:44:43,820 No matter. The journalists spread the word, 441 00:44:43,820 --> 00:44:48,820 fasting protects from the side effects of chemotherapy. 442 00:44:48,820 --> 00:44:53,820 The hospital board decided to launch a clinical trial on patients without delay. 443 00:44:53,820 --> 00:44:58,820 Dr Tanya Dorff is supervising it. 444 00:44:58,820 --> 00:45:03,820 The young oncologist is enthusiastic. 445 00:45:03,820 --> 00:45:08,820 The people fighting cancer in the front line know that they need new strategies. 446 00:45:08,820 --> 00:45:13,820 I've always felt that it's so unfortunate 447 00:45:13,820 --> 00:45:18,820 that our tools for treating cancer are destructive. 448 00:45:18,820 --> 00:45:23,820 They attack anything that's growing quickly. They're very indiscriminate. 449 00:45:23,820 --> 00:45:28,820 And we're developing better targeted therapies, but I think it makes a lot of... 450 00:45:28,820 --> 00:45:33,820 to try to protect the body and maximize the damage done to the cancer 451 00:45:33,820 --> 00:45:38,820 and minimize the harm done to the normal body. 452 00:45:38,820 --> 00:45:43,820 But we should be cautious. Not many patients have been recruited yet. 453 00:45:43,820 --> 00:45:48,820 This patient has fasted for 24 hours. Others have done 48 hours. 454 00:45:48,820 --> 00:45:53,820 No longer for now. 455 00:45:53,820 --> 00:45:58,820 The first step is to prove that fasting is not dangerous for cancer patients. 456 00:45:58,820 --> 00:46:03,820 For this revolutionary approach goes against official recommendations, which prescribe ... 457 00:46:03,820 --> 00:46:08,820 The experiment needs to gradually expand to larger numbers of patients. 458 00:46:08,820 --> 00:46:13,820 There's no lack of money. Public and private funds are flowing in. 459 00:46:13,820 --> 00:46:18,820 In fact, fasting is not a substitute for medication. 460 00:46:18,820 --> 00:46:23,820 By reducing the side effects, it could even make it possible to increase the doses of... 461 00:46:23,820 --> 00:46:28,820 As a doctor at the hospital remarked to us, 462 00:46:28,820 --> 00:46:33,820 imagine it's a treatment that's easy to implement and cheap. 463 00:46:33,820 --> 00:46:38,820 This trial has an important proof of concept. 464 00:46:38,820 --> 00:46:43,820 If we can demonstrate that patients have less toxicity after they are fasted, 465 00:46:43,820 --> 00:46:48,820 this will transcend and potentially be applicable to many patients getting cancer... 466 00:46:48,820 --> 00:46:53,820 Not just one disease, but maybe the whole spectrum of cancer treatment. 467 00:46:53,820 --> 00:46:58,820 Obviously, the clinical trials will take time. 468 00:46:58,820 --> 00:47:03,820 But when your life is in the balance, it's hard to accept these slow protocols. 469 00:47:03,820 --> 00:47:08,820 Nora Quinn is not waiting, even though she's anything but impulsive. 470 00:47:08,820 --> 00:47:13,820 This county judge from Los Angeles wanted to tell us her story. 471 00:47:13,820 --> 00:47:18,820 And at the same time, meet the scientist who has restored hope for her, as she says. 472 00:47:18,820 --> 00:47:23,820 When she read an article in the Los Angeles Times describing the work of 473 00:47:23,820 --> 00:47:28,820 Longo, Nora Quinn made her decision. 474 00:47:28,820 --> 00:47:33,820 She had just been diagnosed with breast cancer. 475 00:47:33,820 --> 00:47:38,820 So if I'd waited for them to go through the human trials process, 476 00:47:38,820 --> 00:47:43,820 it would have been 10 years later, I'd be dead from breast cancer. 477 00:47:43,820 --> 00:47:48,820 I couldn't wait. 478 00:47:48,820 --> 00:47:53,820 I was very lucky. My oncologist was open to the idea. 479 00:47:53,820 --> 00:47:58,820 She didn't encourage me to do it, but she didn't say no. 480 00:47:58,820 --> 00:48:03,820 She said, if you want it fast, go ahead, do it, because I don't think it will make any... 481 00:48:03,820 --> 00:48:08,820 Nora Quinn had to complete five chemotherapy sessions. 482 00:48:08,820 --> 00:48:13,820 She was afraid of the side effects, especially the disturbance of her cognitiv... 483 00:48:13,820 --> 00:48:18,820 Under the supervision of a doctor friend, she fasted five days before the first... 484 00:48:18,820 --> 00:48:23,820 She felt good and could continue working. 485 00:48:23,820 --> 00:48:28,820 For the next two sessions, her oncologist persuaded her not to fast. 486 00:48:28,820 --> 00:48:33,820 She reacted very badly to the chemotherapy. 487 00:48:33,820 --> 00:48:38,820 She fasted for the last two sessions. Again, she felt much better. 488 00:48:38,820 --> 00:48:43,820 There's no question in my mind that I came out of the treatment 489 00:48:43,820 --> 00:48:48,820 with fewer side effects and less long-term fatigue and chemo brain 490 00:48:48,820 --> 00:48:53,820 than my friends who did not fast, who went through similar rounds of chemotherapy. 491 00:48:53,820 --> 00:48:58,820 There's no question in my mind. 492 00:49:03,820 --> 00:49:08,820 Nora Quinn is not the only patient who has fasted spontaneously. 493 00:49:08,820 --> 00:49:13,820 Among the 30 people who have tried it, the Norris Hospital was able to take a sample... 494 00:49:13,820 --> 00:49:18,820 see their medical records and obtain their analysis. 495 00:49:18,820 --> 00:49:23,820 Nora Quinn was part of that study. The results confirmed those observed in mice. 496 00:49:23,820 --> 00:49:28,820 The fasting made chemotherapy more bearable. 497 00:49:28,820 --> 00:49:33,820 The symptoms of fatigue, weakness, nausea and headaches were significantly reduced. 498 00:49:33,820 --> 00:49:38,820 But if fasting protects the potentially devastating effects of chemotherapy, 499 00:49:38,820 --> 00:49:43,820 how does it affect the chemo itself? 500 00:49:43,820 --> 00:49:48,820 Does it make it more effective or not? 501 00:49:48,820 --> 00:49:53,820 Before answering this crucial question, we need to first understand the mechanisms by... 502 00:49:53,820 --> 00:49:58,820 Does fasting cause a change in gene expression? 503 00:49:58,820 --> 00:50:03,820 Longo selected cells from the liver, heart and muscles. 504 00:50:03,820 --> 00:50:08,820 If we unravel the DNA strands, here are the genes. 505 00:50:08,820 --> 00:50:13,820 These genes are directing the work of the cell. Their expression is normal. 506 00:50:13,820 --> 00:50:18,820 After two days of fasting, Longo observed a radical change in the expression of the... 507 00:50:18,820 --> 00:50:23,820 Some cells were over-expressed, others under-expressed. 508 00:50:23,820 --> 00:50:28,820 The genes had modified the cell's functions, putting them in protection mode. 509 00:50:28,820 --> 00:50:33,820 It was a total transformation, which happened very quickly, as if this ability came from... 510 00:50:33,820 --> 00:50:38,820 The normal cells, having learned all the lessons in those 3 billion years, 511 00:50:38,820 --> 00:50:43,820 enter a protective mode. 512 00:50:43,820 --> 00:50:48,820 They have to stand by and stay as protected as possible. 513 00:50:48,820 --> 00:50:53,820 Chemotherapy is one of the things they have to be protected against. 514 00:50:53,820 --> 00:50:58,820 So the cells protect themselves as an atavistic reflex. 515 00:50:58,820 --> 00:51:03,820 Yvonne Maou, the penguin specialist, had put us on that track. 516 00:51:03,820 --> 00:51:08,820 But if fasting protects healthy cells, doesn't it also protect cancer cells? 517 00:51:08,820 --> 00:51:13,820 If so, Longo's whole thesis collapses. 518 00:51:13,820 --> 00:51:18,820 Let's compare a cancer cell with a normal cell. 519 00:51:18,820 --> 00:51:23,820 After two days of fasting, the genes of the cancer cell are expressed in the opposite ... 520 00:51:23,820 --> 00:51:28,820 As the cancer cells have undergone genetic mutations, 521 00:51:28,820 --> 00:51:33,820 they've lost the evolutionary memory and the protection mechanisms do not occur. 522 00:51:34,820 --> 00:51:39,820 The cancer cells hate this low glucose, low growth factor environment. 523 00:51:39,820 --> 00:51:44,820 And not only do they not become protected, they become more sensitive to chemotherapy. 524 00:51:44,820 --> 00:51:49,820 In fact, even in the absence of chemotherapy, they can die or certainly their growth can... 525 00:51:49,820 --> 00:51:54,820 And so fasting can slow their growth even without chemotherapy. 526 00:51:54,820 --> 00:51:59,820 Even without chemotherapy, we were told, for cancer cells, the cell's immune system is ... 527 00:51:59,820 --> 00:52:04,820 Even without chemotherapy, we were told, for cancer cells, fasting is a nightmare. 528 00:52:17,820 --> 00:52:22,820 I recently presented one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world. 529 00:52:22,820 --> 00:52:27,820 And basically I challenged the executive of the company to come up with a cocktail of... 530 00:52:27,820 --> 00:52:32,820 not just a single drug, but a cocktail of drugs that will have more potent effects i... 531 00:52:43,820 --> 00:52:48,820 The question is, why would you want to deal on fast food when you can get a deal on my... 532 00:52:48,820 --> 00:52:52,820 The answer is, we can't do it differently. 533 00:52:52,820 --> 00:52:57,820 Imagine that consumption wasn't the pillar of our economy. 534 00:52:57,820 --> 00:53:02,820 Imagine that doing without was not considered a failure. 535 00:53:02,820 --> 00:53:07,820 Are we ready, as Nikolaev's son put it, to turn our heads back to front? 536 00:53:12,820 --> 00:53:17,820 Today, Alexei Kokosov continues Nikolaev's adventure, but times are hard. 537 00:53:18,820 --> 00:53:23,820 The fall of the Soviet regime in the 90s disrupted the public health system. 538 00:53:23,820 --> 00:53:28,820 A course of fasting now has to be paid for, and it's too expensive for many Russians. 539 00:53:35,820 --> 00:53:40,820 But there's still a place on this earth, hours by plane from any major city, 540 00:53:40,820 --> 00:53:45,820 where the state actually encourages and develops the practice of fasting. 541 00:53:45,820 --> 00:53:50,820 On his way to the Goryachin sanatorium, which is celebrating its 200 years of existence, 542 00:53:50,820 --> 00:53:55,820 Kokosov meets up with his former student, Dr. Betayeva. 543 00:53:55,820 --> 00:54:00,820 Kokosov has trained more than a hundred doctors in Siberia. Does that seem strange? 544 00:54:00,820 --> 00:54:05,820 Here, resources are limited, and there's a fragile ecological balance. 545 00:54:05,820 --> 00:54:10,820 Frugality is a necessity, so fasting doesn't seem crazy. 546 00:54:10,820 --> 00:54:15,820 It isn't seen as a punishment. Abstinence is given its rightful place. 547 00:54:18,820 --> 00:54:23,820 The Minister of Health, who is a physician himself and a keen defender of fasting, 548 00:54:23,820 --> 00:54:26,820 provides enthusiastic support for the practice. 549 00:54:40,820 --> 00:54:43,820 Hurray! Hurray! 550 00:54:43,820 --> 00:54:46,820 Happy holidays! 551 00:55:01,820 --> 00:55:06,820 Maybe this little republic should make us reconsider our hesitations, 552 00:55:06,820 --> 00:55:12,820 and reconsider our healthcare model, which often seems to see disease as a marketing... 553 00:55:12,820 --> 00:55:17,820 And make us think twice about the mirage of growth without limits, 554 00:55:17,820 --> 00:55:22,820 when evolution itself has programmed us to cope with deprivation. 555 00:55:36,820 --> 00:55:41,820 The Goryachin sanatorium is a place of retreat, 556 00:55:41,820 --> 00:55:46,820 where people can find comfort and comfort in their own lives. 557 00:55:46,820 --> 00:55:51,820 It's a place of retreat, where people can find comfort in their own lives. 558 00:55:51,820 --> 00:55:56,820 It's a place of retreat, where people can find comfort in their own lives. 559 00:55:56,820 --> 00:56:01,820 It's a place of retreat, where people can find comfort in their own lives. 560 00:56:01,820 --> 00:56:06,820 The Goryachin sanatorium is a place of retreat, where people can find comfort in... 561 00:56:06,820 --> 00:56:11,820 It's a place of retreat, where people can find comfort in their own lives.