Intermittent fasting not just helps lose weight but has THIS hidden benefit for men

Intermittent fasting has been the trend of late, thanks to fitness enthusiasts. But do the benefits extend beyond body weight and fitness? A new study has found a hidden benefit of intermittent fasting in men. The study found that intermittent fasting can be beneficial for sex drive in men.

The research, published in Cell Metabolism , was led by Dr. Dan Ehninger of the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) in collaboration with scientists from Qingdao University and the University of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences in China. The researchers found that long-term intermittent fasting significantly increases the sex drive of male mice. This is because the fasting reduces serotonin levels in the brain. Scientists think this could be a potential fix low libido concerns in humans.

Though previous studies have explored the benefits of fasting, it didn’t go beyond the commonly observed weight loss. “We are interested in the effects of fasting on aging. Using mice as a model, we investigate the underlying biological mechanisms. Our aim is to gain insights that may also be relevant to humans,” Bonn-based scientist Dr. Dan Ehninger, and the lead author said in a statement.

The researchers placed male mice on a 24-hour intermittent fasting cycle, which is 24 hours of feeding followed by 24 hours with only water. The mice displayed a marked increase in sexual behavior after prolonged fasting. The behavior was observed even in older mice, which typically exhibit diminished fertility due to age-related physiological decline. Though Ehninger and his colleagues had originally set out to investigate how fasting affects the offspring of male mice, one particular finding steered their research in a new direction: aged male mice (senior individuals by human standards) that had fasted for extended periods produced an unusually large number of offspring.

The scientists found that this phenomenon was not due to fasting effects on reproductive organs or the endocrine state of the animals. “It was a bit of detective work to uncover the real cause, Eventually, we realized: it is a matter of behavior. The fasting males had significantly more sexual contacts than mice that could eat freely. In other words, these animals had an unusually high frequency of mating and, as a result, an unusually high number of offspring for their age. Their mating behavior more than compensated for the age-related physiological limitations,” Ehninger said.

Researchers traced this behavioral change to lower levels of serotonin, a neurotransmitter known for its inhibitory effects on sexual activity. Serotonin is synthesized using tryptophan, an essential amino acid that must be obtained through diet. Fasting mice consumed fewer calories and therefore less tryptophan, which led to reduced serotonin production in the brain.
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“The lack of serotonin was clearly a result of fasting,” explains the DZNE researcher.

“For intermittent fasting to increase sex drive, it takes some time. Based on our experiments, the minimum duration appears to be somewhere between six weeks and six months,” Zhou added.

So is this fasting method significant? “All in all, the fasting mice consumed almost fifteen percent fewer calories than the animals in the control group. This also roughly applies to their intake of tryptophan. However, it is currently unclear whether the reduction in serotonin levels is linked to our specific feeding regimen or would also occur with other types of fasting. Future studies will need to clarify this,” Zhou added.

Looking at this study’s possible application in humans aged, the researchers noted, “In view of this, I consider it very plausible that sexual desire in humans can be influenced by fasting – possibly not only in men, but also in women, since serotonin affects their libido as well.” Ehninger also pointed out at the limited scientific studies on the effects of fasting on human libido, “In my opinion, it would make sense to investigate this in more detail. I see potential for therapeutic application. A lack of sexual desire is not necessarily perceived as problematic – but some people suffer from it. This condition is known as ‘hypoactive sexual desire disorder’ and particularly affects older adults. Fasting could potentially serve as a useful addition to existing treatment options.”