Table 2.

Summary of evidence for fasting as a therapy in the prevention and treatment of common neurological diseases (in both animals and humans).

Disorder	Evidence in Animals	Evidence in Humans
Metabolic syndrome (a major risk factor for neurological disease)	Mitigates obesity Improves insulin sensitivity Alleviates hypertension	Mitigates obesity Improves insulin sensitivity Alleviates hypertension
Cancer (including cancers that involve the brain)	Probably prevents formation of tumours, and possibly treats established tumours Improves tumour responses to chemotherapy	Ameliorates chemotherapy-related adverse effects May protect normal cells from chemotherapy
Neurodegeneration	Improves cognition, and stalls age-related cognitive decline Usually slows neurodegeneration	No direct evidence (only indirect evidence of benefit from ketogenic diets)
Stroke	Reduces brain damage Enhances functional recovery	No direct evidence
Epilepsy	Probably lessens severity and frequency of seizures	Lessens severity and frequency of seizures
Multiple sclerosis	Mitigates pathology and symptoms of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis	No direct evidence (only indirect preliminary evidence of benefit from fasting-mimicking diets)