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A recent study suggests that fasting may help to protect humans from infection.

A team of scientists at Canada's University of British Columbia infected a group of fasted mice with a bacteria commonly responsible for gastroenteritis in humans.

To test this, the team fasted a group of mice for 48 hours and orally infected them with Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium – a bacteria responsible for a high proportion of cases of gastroenteritis in humans – part way through.

After fasting, they found that these mice had fewer signs of bacterial infection and very little intestinal tissue damage compared to fed mice.

Newsday discussed the findings with the study leader, Professor Bruce Vallance of the Division of Gastroenterology at the University of British Columbia.

Photo: A digital picture of an intestine. Credit: Getty Images