Slow Aging, Eat Less
Fasting is hailed as an effective way to lose weight, improve the immune system, slow aging and boost brain function. But not everyone can tolerate going long periods without food.
Now scientists have developed a 5-day, 1ce-a-month diet that mimics fasting, is safe and easy to follow.
A study of the Fasting Mimicking Diet (FMD) published in the journal Cell Metabolism and funded by the National Institute on Aging, found that individuals who intermittently fasted for 3 months reduced risk factors for aging, cancer, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease.
While the number of study participants was small, only 19 tried the diet, the results are so promising that the University of Southern California (USC) researcher who helped develop the regimen is seeking Food and Drug Administration (FDA) so that it can be recommended for patients.
The medical community in general acknowledges that fasting diets have the ability to provide necessary calories without giving the body substances that can accelerate the aging process, according to Prof. Valter Longo, one of the researchers who worked on this dietary study.
“It’s about reprogramming the body so it enters a slower aging mode, but also rejuvenating it …” said Prof. Valter D. Longo, who studies longevity. “It’s not a typical diet because it isn’t something you need to stay on.”
For 25 days out of the month, dieters eat as they normally would. Then for day 1 of the diet, they would eat 1,090 calories: 10% protein, 56% fat and 34% carbohydrates. For days 2 through 5, 725 calories: 9% protein, 44% fat, 47% carbohydrates.
In the study, participants consumed a lot of vegetable soup, kale crackers, and chamomile tea. The participants in the study experienced decreased risk factors and biomarkers for disease with no major adverse side effects.
All researchers are not in agreement about the FMD or diets that require followers to make drastic dietary changes on a regular basis for short intervals of time. Some professionals assert that these diets put the metabolism into shock and can interrupt healthy sleep patterns. They also believe that the FMD is too restrictive overall, and that some cancer and aging markers were unaffected when certain people followed the diet.
Eat well, Be well.
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Paul Ebeling
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