Adult-onset intermittent fasting extended C. elegans lifespan without FUdR or antibiotics
In wild-type C. elegans, daily fasting of 5, 6 or 18 hours until day 10 of adulthood extended lifespan by 24–57% versus continuously fed controls, without FUdR, antibiotics or killed bacteria. This is an animal model result, not evidence of human lifespan benefit. [1]
Automatic summary · not editorially reviewed
The key findings
Fasting studies in C. elegans are sensitive to variables such as FUdR, antibiotics, germline-less mutants and killed bacteria, which can independently influence lifespan and health. [1]
Wild-type worms fasted daily for 5, 6 or 18 hours until day 10 of adulthood lived 24–57% longer than continuously fed controls. [1]
The authors present the paradigm as simple and experimentally tractable for C. elegans and stress limiting pharmacological and microbial conditions in dietary-intervention experiments. [1]
The source at a glance
- Study type / format
- Preclinical animal study (abstract)
- Population / context
- Wild-type Caenorhabditis elegans worms, compared with continuously fed controls
- Summary based on
- Study abstract
- Publication status
- Preprint · peer-review status not confirmed
- Original publication
- August 6, 2026
Why fasting studies in C. elegans needed a cleaner design
The abstract notes that fasting studies in C. elegans are sensitive to experimental variables that can independently influence lifespan and health: FUdR, antibiotic treatment, germline-less mutants, and UV- or heat-killed bacteria. FUdR can alter lifespan, age-associated pathology and stress responses, and antibiotics used to prevent bacterial growth during fasting may directly affect worm physiology. To minimize these confounders, the authors developed a simple intermittent fasting paradigm starting in adulthood that requires no FUdR, antibiotics or bacterial killing.
Supporting source [1]
Daily 5, 6 or 18 hours fasting versus continuous feeding
Wild-type worms were subjected to daily fasting periods of 5 hours, 6 hours or 18 hours until day 10 of adulthood and compared with continuously fed controls. Daily intermittent fasting robustly extended lifespan by 24–57%. The comparison is therefore fasting versus continuous feeding in the same worm model, not a test of any fasting schedule in people.
Supporting source [1]
What the abstract reports and what it does not
The authors describe the findings as establishing a straightforward, experimentally tractable intermittent fasting paradigm for C. elegans and as underscoring the importance of limiting pharmacological and microbial conditions in dietary-intervention experiments. The abstract reports lifespan extension in worms; it does not report human outcomes, and the full text was not reviewed. Details such as sample sizes, replicate numbers and survival statistics are not given in the abstract.
Supporting source [1]
How to interpret this
Abstract only; the full text was not reviewed. Findings come from wild-type C. elegans, an animal model, and do not establish human lifespan or health benefits. Sample sizes, replicate numbers and survival statistics are not reported in the abstract.
Based on the study abstract; the full paper, tables and supplementary data were not reviewed.
Source & supporting passages
Dasgupta P, Silva-García CG. · europepmc.org · August 6, 2026