Key Points:
- A new study shows that a diet mimicking the effects of fasting can reduce health risks and increase lifespan.
- This diet promises to blast belly fat and even promote longevity, but you should proceed with caution, experts warn.
You cannot go anywhere when looking into the anti-aging and lifespan extension world without running into intermittent fasting regimens. Just tune into any interview of the past month with Hugh Jackman who talks about how fasting for 16 hours a day was a core part of how he achieved the ridiculously ripped physique for Wolverine in the latest Deadpool movie in his fifties!
And the research behind it looks, for the most part, pretty decent. Previous animal and human studies have found that a periodic fast-mimicking diet that meets basic nutritional needs can help alleviate symptoms and improve the metabolic health of patients with Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes, cancer, and multiple sclerosis.
But the truth is, intermittent fasting is not the easiest thing for everyone to take on —switching from eating whenever you want to just a few hours a day can be really hard for a lot of people. While ongoing calorie restriction alone can help reduce weight and control disease risk factors, it is well-documented how difficult it is for most people to maintain a low- to very low-calorie diet for any significant time. For many, a periodic fast-mimicking plan may provide the same, if not more, risk-reducing benefits while less burdening the individual.
So, what if all you had to do was order a box just a couple of times a year that provided a fasting-mimicking diet to get the same effect? Would you do it? How about if it was backed by some prominent names in the longevity field, like Morgan Levine and Valter Longo?
Earlier this year, a human study came out showing that a fasting-mimicking diet has positive effects on human health, which went viral, with coverage by the likes of the BBC, Fox, Fortune, and Newsweek.
The diet consists of five days of restricted eating, where calorie consumption is kept at around 700 calories per day. More specifically, the fasting-mimicking diet is a low calorie nutrition program that lasts 5 days with a specific low sugar, low protein, high fat plant based composition that is designed to match or surpass the effects of water, only fasting without the safety and compliance issues.
In an interview with Newsweek, Longo said, “For people without [specific] diseases, it is designed to be used for only 5 days for 2 to 3 times per year (10 to 15 days per year [in total]) and otherwise not impose a lifestyle change.”
It is worth noting here that two thirds of the study participants were overweight or obese at baseline so some of these positive results may have resulted from simple weight loss among these participants. However, as encouraging as these results are, 184 is a fairly small sample size, and most of our prior understanding of this topic has come from research in animals.
The human research
The fasting-mimicking diet did not just appear out of thin air—there are actually some human studies backing the claims that are fundamental to ProLon’s product.
A study published earlier this year in a pretty reputable journal (Nature Communications) tested the effects of the fast-mimicking diet, where participants received a box daily and could choose when they ate from it throughout each day. The boxes included vegetable-based soups, energy bars and drinks, chip snacks, tea, and a high-level vitamin, mineral, and essential fatty acid supplement. The total calories were 1,100 calories for the first day and 700 calories for days two to five.
The study found that just three monthly cycles of the fast-mimicking diet reduced biological aging by an average of two and a half years. Study participants, which included 100 men and women ages 18 to 70 and excluded anyone with major physical health conditions or mental illness, also experienced weight loss, total body fat loss, reduced abdominal and liver fat, lower blood pressure, reduced triglycerides and cholesterol, lower fasting glucose levels, and reduced insulin resistance, especially in those with higher rates of these risk factors at the beginning of the study.
Using data from this study, the researchers were able to predict the overall disease risk reduction and life-extending benefits of a fast-mimicking diet based on the assumption that participants participate in three-month diet cycles three times every year. They could predict a possible decrease in biological age of approximately 11 years over 20 years.
Larger and more comprehensive studies are necessary to determine safety and potential side effects for all ages and health conditions before health professionals can generally recommend fast-mimicking diets. Regardless, as with any diet plan or big change in dietary habits, it is especially important to speak to your physician or healthcare provider before starting any new or restrictive plan, regardless of age, fitness level, or current state of health.
But it’s more than just a five-day diet…
It’s important to note that the fasting-mimicking diet does not provide anyone with some sort of immunity to what they put in their bodies on the remaining 25-or-so days of the month. What you do on the other days of each month is likely just as important—to maintain any health benefits or weight loss you need to have a healthy diet and exercise regularly, too.
While some clinical trials have shown positive results from the diet, it is important to keep in mind that every individual reacts differently to sudden changes in their diet. Restricting intake of proteins and carbohydrates can lead to negative impacts on metabolism and increased nutritional deficiencies for some people. This is especially true for individuals with underlying health conditions, such as diabetes, who should proceed with caution when starting new diets.
The other thing to keep in mind is that any diet that severely restricts calories is going to lead to some weight loss, including around the midsection. The key is sustainability. If the diet is not upheld, it is very likely that you will rebound weight gain once you resume normal eating. And that may be exactly why Longo’s diet is appealing to so many—all you have to do is keep it up for five days in a row every month, which may be more doable than continuous restriction.
Even for intermittent fasting, there is recent research suggesting it could do the opposite. The research looked at a relatively large group of 20,000 Americans. It found that those who said they ate within an eight-hour window were nearly twice as likely to die of heart attacks or strokes as those who said they spread meals and snacks across 12 to 16 hours.
So, whether you are interested in trying the fasting-mimicking diet or just straight up intermittent fasting, you have always got to be aware of the potential drawbacks. And there is no one-size-fit-all solution.
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