Call for papers - Fasting therapy

Guest Editors

Daniela Koppold, MD, Charité University Hospital, Germany
Andreas Michalsen, MD, PhD, Charite-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany
Pradeep MK Nair, PhD, Mirakle Integrated Health Centre, India

Submission Status: Open | Submission Deadline: 25 December 2025

BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies is calling for submissions to our Collection on Fasting therapy.

Fasting has been practiced for centuries across cultures for religious, spiritual, and therapeutic purposes. Today, emerging scientific research is validating the physiological and therapeutic effects of fasting, highlighting its potential role in metabolic health, longevity, immune function, and mental well-being. This Collection aims to bring together research on mechanisms, clinical applications, and health impacts of fasting therapy.

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Meet the Guest Editors

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Daniela Koppold, MD, Charité University Hospital, Germany

Dr Daniela Koppold is a general practitioner and researcher at the Charité University Hospital in Berlin and Technical University of Dresden. Her research focuses on fasting from a preventive and therapeutic but also mental, emotional and religious perspective. She has authored several publications on fasting in peer-reviewed international journals and presented data on fasting in many international conferences covering fields from oncology to metabolic diseases. She sees traditional medicine and nutrition as the way forward for global healthcare systems and teaches these topics to medical students at Charité University and to medical doctors. She is also involved in developing new and innovative teaching curricula on the topic of nutrition that are being used by the university and for continual medical education.

Andreas Michalsen, MD, PhD, Charite-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany

Dr Andreas Michalsen is Director and Physician-in-Chief at Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin and Immanuel Hospital Berlin in Germany. He is an expert in internal medicine, intensive care medicine, nutritional medicine, physical medicine and rehabilitation, and complementary and integrative medicine.

Pradeep MK Nair, PhD, Mirakle Integrated Health Centre, India

Dr Pradeep MK Nair is Chief Medical Officer and Head of Research and development at Mirakle Integrated Health Center, India’s first Integrative Oncology Hospital and the Director of Indian Academy for Scientific Writing and Research, Pune. He is one of the renowned researchers in the field of Naturopathy and yoga who has authored more than 70 research papers in peer-reviewed international journals, as well as 23 chapters in National and International textbooks. He also authored a textbook “The Scientific Naturopath: A leap into the evidence behind naturopathy philosophies” and edited two textbooks, “The Clinical Naturopathy’ and “Medical Ozone Therapy”. He is an editorial board member of the Indian Journal of Naturopathy & Yoga.

About the Collection

BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies is calling for submissions to our Collection on Fasting therapy.

Fasting has been practiced for centuries across cultures for religious, spiritual, and therapeutic purposes. Today, emerging scientific research is validating the physiological and therapeutic effects of fasting, highlighting its potential role in metabolic health, longevity, immune function, and mental well-being. This Collection aims to bring together research on mechanisms, clinical applications, and health impacts of fasting therapy. Topics of interest include (but are not limited to):

Mechanisms and health benefits of fasting
Fasting approaches in chronic disease management
Effects of fasting on mental and cognitive health
Potential risks, contraindications, and safety of fasting therapy
Patterns of use of fasting therapy

With research on fasting therapy continuing to expand, we can anticipate the development of personalized fasting protocols tailored to individual health needs and conditions. Future studies may lead to more refined understanding of the mechanisms by which fasting exerts its effects, potentially identifying biomarkers that predict individual responses to fasting. The integration of advanced technologies, such as wearable devices and mobile applications, could facilitate real-time monitoring of fasting outcomes, enhancing adherence and efficacy.

All manuscripts submitted to this journal, including those submitted to collections and special issues, are assessed in line with our editorial policies and the journal’s peer review process. Reviewers and editors are required to declare competing interests and can be excluded from the peer review process if a competing interest exists.

Image credit: @ Westend61 / DigitalVision / Gettyimages

There are currently no articles in this collection.

Submission Guidelines

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This Collection welcomes submission of original Research Articles. Should you wish to submit a different article type, please read our submission guidelines to confirm that type is accepted by the journal. Articles for this Collection should be submitted via our submission system, Snapp. During the submission process you will be asked whether you are submitting to a Collection, please select "Fasting therapy" from the dropdown menu.

All manuscripts submitted to this journal, including those submitted to collections and special issues, are assessed in line with our editorial policies and the journal’s peer review process. Reviewers and editors are required to declare competing interests and can be excluded from the peer review process if a competing interest exists.