People who follow a short-term low-calorie diet may have reduced markers of inflammation associated with gum disease.
A new study by King’s College London highlights how lifestyle modifications could be important alongside plaque control in managing gum disease.
While fasting has been linked to reduced inflammation around the body, this is the first to establish a relationship with gum disease too. The findings offer new insights into how oral and wider body health are closely intertwined.
Dr Giuseppe Mainas, first author of the study, King’s College London, said: “Our study suggests lifestyle modifications could be important alongside proper tooth brushing for patients.”
Role of diet
Periodontitis, a serious form of gum disease, affects millions of people worldwide and has been linked to wider health problems, including heart disease and diabetes. While standard treatment focuses on cleaning infected areas around the teeth, researchers are increasingly exploring whether diet can play a role in improving outcomes.
The research included 28 patients from across hospitals in Spain, split into two groups – those who followed a five-day restrictive diet, versus a control group who continued their usual diet.
Patients who fasted ate 1,100 calories for two days, then 750 calories for three days. The sixth day gently introduced more calories with soft foods – then their diets returned to normal by the seventh day. This was repeated three times in six months, with patients reporting the diet easy to stick to.
After six months, samples were analysed from the patients’ blood and gingival crevicular fluid – liquid that comes from the small space between your tooth and gum, which helps gums stay healthy and fight germs.
Markers of inflammation
Those who fasted had reduced markers of inflammation in samples from blood and gum tissue compared to those whose diets stayed the same, including lower levels of C-reactive protein, a general indicator of inflammation around the body. The fasting group also had reduced molecules linked to inflammation specifically in the gums, compared to controls.
Senior-author Prof Luigi Nibali, King’s College London, said: “There may be multiple reasons why fasting is beneficial to gum disease patients. Fasting reduces oxidative stress in the body, a common cause of inflammation, which can damage cells and DNA.
“Intake of high calorific foods and refined carbohydrates, for example in cakes and biscuits, can also cause inflammation – so restricting these foods also reduces oxidative stress in the body.
“It may also be that fasting has beneficial effects on the microbiome – the body’s community of bacteria that help to keep it healthy. However, further research is needed to confirm this relationship.”
Fasting-mimicking diets
Dietary approaches such as fasting-mimicking diets could be investigated in the future as supporting approaches alongside conventional therapies for gum disease, such as professional cleaning and oral hygiene support.
Dr Mainas added: “Now we have established this relationship, we would like to do a larger study, before potentially incorporating into gum disease treatment in the future. There may be patients where restricting foods can be dangerous, such as those with diabetes, so the advice will need to be targeted to specific patient groups. We are currently investigating how we could implement these benefits in high-risk groups who may not be able to fast.”
The study builds on long-standing research by King’s College London investigating the relationship between gum disease and wider health. Last year, researchers at King’s discovered following the mediterranean diet reduces gum disease, and that successful dental treatment reduces risks of diabetes and heart disease.
This study was published in Journal of Clinical Periodontology (JCP).
This study was funded by a Medical Research Council-Impact Accelerator Account (MRC-IAA) grant.
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