April 5, 2011 -- Occasional water-only fasts may lower your risk of heart disease and diabetes, according to new research presented at the annual scientific sessions of the American College of Cardiology in New Orleans.

The study was conducted in Salt Lake City, where two-thirds of the residents are Mormons who fast once a month for 24 hours for religious purposes.

In a previous study, the same team of researchers found that people who answered "yes" to the question “Do you abstain from food and drink for an extended time?” had a lower prevalence of coronary disease.

Now researchers were able to replicate and expand upon these findings. “People who fast have lower rates of coronary disease, and fasting was associated with a lower prevalence of diabetes,” says study leader Benjamin D. Horne, PhD, MPH, director of cardiovascular and genetic epidemiology at the Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute in Salt Lake City.

The state of Utah consistently has some of the lowest rates of heart disease in the U.S., and until now many believed it was because the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints - the official name of the Mormon Church -- teaches its disciples not to smoke.

“The common wisdom has been that nonsmoking has protected Utahans from cardiac disease, but as smoking rates dropped across the country, Utah’s heart disease rate was still the lowest,” he says. Horne’s preliminary research suggested it could be the fasting that promotes the health benefits, and the new study substantiates that work.