Fasting-Mimicking Diet Lowers Risk of Disease, Slows Down Aging

One diet shows promising results in lowering biological age and reducing disease risks. It also effectively helps one lose weight.

Fasting-Mimicking Diet (FMD) Offers Several Health Benefits

Two clinical investigations involving 144 volunteers were conducted by researchers from the Yale School of Medicine, the University of Southern California (USC), and the AIRC Institute of Molecular Oncology in Italy. Researchers discovered that people following the fasting-mimicking diet (FMD) had lower levels of immune system aging, liver fat, and insulin resistance, all connected to diabetes and a lower biological age.

FMD, for a brief period, attempts to mimic the benefits of a water-only fast without sacrificing vital nutrients. This entails eating a certain amount of energy bars, crisps, teas, plant-based soups, and vitamin and mineral supplements over five days to provide a diet heavy in unsaturated fats and low in calories, protein, and carbs.

The subjects who underwent the FMD cycles had a median biological age of 2.5 years lower than that of the other groups. This measures the "wear and tear" on the cells or how effectively they operate relative to your actual age.

Furthermore, there didn't seem to be a connection between the health benefits and related weight loss. Stated differently, there appears to be more going on here than the body just reaping the benefits of losing weight, which can be further explored in future research.

"This study shows for the first time evidence for biological age reduction from two different clinical trials, accompanied by evidence of rejuvenation of metabolic and immune function," said gerontologist Valter Longo from USC.

According to Longo, this is the first study to demonstrate that altering risk factors for aging and disease using a food-based intervention that does not include long-term dietary or other lifestyle changes can make people biologically younger.

What Is Fasting-Mimicking Diet?

The fasting-mimicking diet is a specially created 5-day regimen that offers calories and nutrients and is intended to resemble a 5-day water fast. The goal of the diet is to maximize the positive effects of fasting while reducing its adverse side effects, like headaches and exhaustion. The only diet plan that mimics fasting on the market is ProLon meal kits.

According to Longo, the patients return to their regular diet for the remainder of the month. FMD focuses on low-fat, low-protein, and calorie-restricted plant-based foods. Unlike intermittent fasting, a person following the fasting-mimicking diet doesn't stop eating throughout the "fasting" phase.

In related news, a recent study suggests fasting takes longer to work. Many have used Fasting to shed extra pounds and offers tons of health benefits.

However, Professor Claudia Langenberg explains that, based on their experiment, one has to fast for three days to reap the health benefits.

Their findings support the health benefits of fasting beyond weight reduction. Still, they did not become apparent until three days of complete calorie restriction- a longer period than previously believed, Langenberg said. She added that it was the first time they could observe what happened at the molecular level throughout the body during a fast.

Check out more news and information on Intermittent Fasting in Science Times.