Jakarta, IO – Law Number 13 of 1998 concerning the Welfare of the Elderly defines an “elder” as “a person who has lived for 60 years or more.” The effort to secure healthcare for the elderly is regulated in Law Number 36 of 2009 concerning Health. Healthcare efforts for the elderly are meant to ensure that they remain healthy and productive, in both social and economic terms, to befit their dignity as human beings.
In the “Remaining Healthy and In Prime Condition in Old Age” webinar held in Jakarta on Tuesday (23/08/2022), and National Research and Innovation Agency (Badan Riset dan Inovasi Nasional – “BRIN”) Biomedical Research Center Researcher, Jiro Hasegawa Situmorang, Ph.D., reported that multiple studies have concluded that fasting prevents, or at least delays, the effects of aging. Furthermore, routine fasting prevents a number of degenerative illnesses: “Fasting stimulates autophagy, or the body’s mechanism of ‘eating itself’ by consuming its own damaged and non-functioning cells. This mechanism delays the body’s degeneration because of aging,” he said.
Read: Stop smoking to minimize risk of lung cancer
There are two types of fasting: intermittent fasting and nutrient fasting. Intermittent fasting includes fasting for religious reasons, fasting for a specific time period (16 hours of fasting and 8 hours of eating and drinking), and the “warrior diet”. Nutritious fasting, which also includes fasting for spiritual or religious reasons, reduces caloric intake by consuming less carbohydrate, less fat, and following a ketogenic diet.