Dr. Shah at Prague Science Film Festival

Dr. Shah, DRIFT-FOOD Senior Researcher, was invited to join the International Festival of Popular Science Films held at Czech University of Life Sciences in Prague from October 20 to 23, 2025. As a nutrition expert, Dr. Shah took part in the post-screening discussion on the Fasting: the New Investigation documentary film the evolution of fasting, together with the film Directors, Sylvie Gilman and Thierry De Lestrade.

Fasting, the New Investigation, a brand-new documentary looks at the evolution of fasting, between public enthusiasm and medical skepticism. Recent scientific advances underline the potential benefits of fasting in treating various diseases (type 2 diabetes, autoimmune diseases, hypertension). Fasting induces a metabolic switch favoring autophagy, a self-cleansing mechanism that earned Ohsumi, the man who discovered this process, the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2016. The alternative, intermittent fasting, is attracting growing interest for its therapeutic potential. This documentary tries to answer this question: will fasting become a public health policy as a therapeutic or preventive approach?

The Prague Science Film Festival offered its visitors the best science documentaries worldwide and the opportunity to meet guests from the field of science and film from the Czech Republic and abroad. It was co-organized by the Czech University of Life Sciences in Prague and Palacký University in Olomouc.