Fmd Promotes Cellular Regeneration:
It was revealed that dieters committed to 4 days of fasting mimicking diet for 60 days experienced a healthy production of insulin and the rapid regeneration of previously damaged pancreatic cells. Also, this dietary plan helped dieters to maintain a stable blood glucose level and reduced resistance to insulin.
Save Even More Money On A Fasting Mimicking Diet
The fasting mimicking menus here were designed to create some variety, because fasting is hard enough as it is. But if you want to save even more money, simply repeat soups and snacks.
A box of Imagine Organic soup, for example, has at least two or three FMD meals in it. So if you can handle the same soup for two days, youll save some money. Similarly, one small tub of hummus and one cucumber can be a 75 calorie snack a few times, one box of tea is cheaper than three, etc.
My Do It Yourself Fasting Mimicking Diet
Like many, the pandemic disrupted my life and made it difficult to maintain healthy routines. Eating, in particular, was guided by convenience rather than smart food choices. And after several months, I had gained some weight. It took some time to mentally make the decision to get back on track. Inertia can be difficult to overcome. Eventually, I found the inspiration in the work of Dr. Valter Longo.I had known about the miraculous effects of fasting for quite some time, but I never tried it because, frankly, it seemed too burdensome even uncomfortable, and certainly impractical. Thats why the fasting MIMICKING diet sounded so appealing. All the health benefits of fasting without the discomfort of constant hunger. Fasting with food, is the phrase they coined.This seemed doable. However, perhaps I wasnt convinced enough to spend the money, at least not on the first round. I thought that if I could prove the concept to myself, then in subsequent rounds I would go for the full ProLon plan. So once I committed mentally to doing this, I decided to document my own version of a 5-day fasting-mimicking diet meal plan, Do-It-Yourself style, for anyone else who likes the idea, but cant yet commit to the ProLon regime.
For reference, below are some general guidelines for a 5-day DIY fasting-mimicking diet plan. These aren’t hard and fast rules, but if you stick to these suggestions, you’ll be in good shape.
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Fasting Mimicking: Days 1
The food and drink: Its prepackaged food, but for prepackaged food, its pretty good. For breakfast you eat a nut/granola-type bar, which is small but good.
Lunch and dinners are always soups and sometimes olives and/or flax crackers. At the end of a couple days you get some kind of weird chocolate thing with inulin in it, which I called the fart bar. The inulin is a prebiotic , which keeps the digestive tract moving along, but bloated me something fierce.
On days 2-5, you start drinking the proprietary glycerol concentrate with water. I put mine in the bottle they provided and added the bags of hibiscus tea to steep throughout the day. I found an interview with Dr. Longo where he says that the glycerol is elevated in people who are fasting and may be the reason that muscle is spared during periodic fasting.
Supplements: They give you an omega 3 algae supplement and a multivitamin, which were fine, although I wouldnt have put folic acid in the multi, but thats a blog post for another day
Energy/hunger: The first time I did this last November , I felt fine, at least on days 1-4. I couldnt believe how well I transitioned into the fast. I didnt notice any blood sugar crashes or hangry moments.
This second round, I had more headaches because I stopped caffeine , after day 1 because caffeine can kick you out of fasting. By days 4 and 5, I was clear headed and felt really good.
Rule : Its Free Of Sugar Including Fruits
We can include a small number of berries, but thats probably something you will have to decide, depending on your current health state. The original ProLon meal plan has some nut bars that include a small amount of honey. So in my interpretation, this plan can include a tiny amount of sugar from fruits or honey if that fits your needs. Dr. Steven Gundry will probably advise against it.
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Prolon Fasting Mimicking Diet: Here Is What’s Included:
Note: this represents EVERYTHING you’d eat during your 5-day fast. The cost is not cheap at a regular price of about $250. However, they do offer occasional discounts such as this one: ProLon® Discount
This protocol has been studied extensively and is widely accepted as a safe and effective way of gaining the benefits of a true fast without the taxing demands.
But yes, it’s expensive. And there are ways that the same results can be achieved with ingredients found at the supermarket or healthcare store. Below are some suggestions for creating your own Fasting Mimicking Diet at home at a fraction of the cost.
May Help You Enter Ketosis More Easily
An intermittent fasting protocol like the FMD can be a nice gateway into a Ketogenic diet.
Its a way to get some of the potential benefits of fasting while also helping the body become fat-adapted.
From there you can more easily transition into a healthy, high-fat diet. Its less of a jarring transition compared to going from the standard western diet to full-blown Keto overnight.
Learn more: Intermittent Fasting and Keto
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What Is A Fasting Mimicking Diet
The concept of fasting mimicking diet was first brought to the worlds attention by an Italian researcher and biologist named Dr. Valter Longo. He spent over two decades researching how fasting could be beneficial to ones health without a person having to experience significant caloric loss.
With most fasting methods, participants deprive themselves of nutrition, but this is not the case with the FMD concept proposed by Dr. Valter Longo. The principle behind a fast mimicking diet is that participants benefit from fasting without lacking in calories and nutrition.
An FMD diet is different from the traditional 16/8 intermittent fasting method. The positive results of clinical trials have shown that Dr. Valter Longos FMD dietary protocol is worth acknowledging. He suggested that just about anyone is capable of adopting a fast mimicking diet plan for weight loss. And to this end, he created an effective FMD five-day plan for weight loss which he called the ProLon Fasting Mimicking Diet.
Bottomline: Fmd Is Easy Enough For Regular Dieting
- Adherence to diet: I found it helpful to do FMD with someone else. It motivates you and helps you stick to the plan.
- Short-term benefits: Both of us recorded some weight loss and it is an interesting exercise from a mental perspective.
- Learnings for next round: Next time around we will do blood work before and after FMD to evaluate the impact on additional health markers.
Since both of us are healthy the recommendation for FMD would be to do 1-2 cycles per year. We can see ourselves doing it each January after the holiday season and at some point during the summer.
Its easy/short enough to do it on a regular basis.
We will do it again.
Update after FMD #2 Update after FMD #3 Pro tip:
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Why Fasting Mimicking
Dr. Longos research focuses on Fasting Mimicking plans because, unlike water fasting, theyre broadly safer and can be as effective without the risks or deprivation.
I personally find Fasting Mimicking to be fascinating. Total deprivation from food sounds like torture to many people . Still, a protocol that accomplishes many of the same benefits without having to completely skip food can be a great starting point for many people.
Enter the Fasting Mimicking Diet. But how does it work?
FMD provides guidance on macronutrients, like protein, because it contains amino acids. Amino acids are known as the building blocks of protein, and its how the body literally repairs and restores cells and tissues. They also control growth hormone levels and insulin-like growth factor 1, both of which are highly involved in the speed at which the body ages and develops disease processes.
FMD also modulates sugar intake to support blood glucose, because that controls another gene known as PKA, which influences aging and disease, too.
What Is A 5
Before I start, I wanted to briefly mention the potential benefits of a 5-day fasting-mimicking diet, which, as the name suggested, is a 120-hour prolonged nutritious, low-calorie fast, mimicking the benefits of a water fast. These benefits are:
- resetting metabolism
As Dr. Valter Longo and Dr. Steven Gundry suggest, we could do this fasting regularly: every 8 to 12 weeks. For healthy individuals who are already following a healthy diet all the time, twice a year should be enough. However, it really depends on a lot of factors, so I would recommend reading The Longevity Diet by Valter Longo, PhD or watching some of his more recent podcasts or interviews, like this one on The Dr. Gundry Podcast, published in May 2022.
Dr. Valter Longo is very cautious regarding DYI fasting-mimicking diets. He advises medical supervision. Please do not make any drastic changes in your diet without consulting with your doctor, especially if:
- you take medication like insulin, statins, steroids, immunosuppressants etc
- you have diabetes, low blood pressure, cancer, or other medical conditions
- you have a history of eating disorders
- you have a very low BMI or are underweight or frail
- you are over 65 years old
A little hunger and lack of energy are normal side effects of this diet, possibly a light headache, but anything other than that, please stop and add more food to the plan. Make sure you drink plenty of water, a minimum of 2 liters per day.
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Who Might Benefit From Fmd
First off, I want to advise that if youre considering the FMD or any other version of fasting, you should consult with your healthcare provider to ensure youre healthy enough to do so. Ok, so Dr. Longo would likely suggest that most of us could benefit from some form of fasting and certainly the FMD. I would agree that most of us would do well to give our bodies a break through FMD or a monitored fast.
I love that, historically, fasting has been a part of many religions and cultures. Also, humans have naturally gone through seasons of plentiful food and famine . Our bodies have adapted to these seasonal variations in food intake.
For my clients, some of the best results have come from clients who have cardiometabolic disease risk factors. It is also easy because the program is clear and simple everything you need is in a box. I know Dr. Longo is working on finalizing FMDs specifically for autoimmune disease and other conditions, but those arent yet available. Ill be curious to test them when they are released.
Calories On A Fasting Mimicking Diet
The typical recommended caloric intake throughout the 5-day period is as follows:
- Day 1: 1,090 kcal
- Days 2-5: 725 kcal .
It’s important to note that the FMD is not designed to be a long-term diet plan.
Its meant to be performed anywhere from once a month for obese patients looking to lose weight for health reasons , and 2-3 times per year for health-conscious individuals looking to reap the potential longevity benefits.
If you are interested in experimenting with the FMD, its important you consult a medical practitioner to determine if it is suitable for you.
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What To Eat And Avoid On A Fasting Mimicking Diet
The FMD program is a 5-day meal program. On the first day, you consume 1100 to 1150 calories. On the remaining four days, you are not allowed to consume more than 750 to 800 calories per day. The basic idea is to get 60% of your daily calories from healthy fats, 10% from plant-based protein, and 30% from slow digestible carbs on day 1. On the remaining days, the ratio of macros changes slightly to 9% from protein, 44% from fat, and 47% from carbs.
Fasting mimicking diet does not allow the intake of animal protein, processed sugar, lactose, and gluten. Nuts are an essential part of the meal program. Thus, you should take care if you are allergic to nuts. Nut allergy can cause life-threatening reactions in some people.
Tools Products And Services:
Blood Glucose and Ketones: I used a Precision Xtra blood glucose/ketone meter. Youll also need glucose test strips and ketone test strips
Blood Testing: I took InsideTrackers Ultimate testing plan prior to and 5 days after completing my FMD
Weight and Body Composition: I used this Omron Body Composition Monitor and Scale for weight and body composition measurements.
Heart Rate Variability: I used an HRV app called HRV4Training, which I paired with a Polar heart rate monitor. SweetBeatHRV is another HRV app I recommend.
Blood Pressure: For blood pressure readings I used this Omron blood pressure monitor
Blood Oxygen Sensor: I used an inexpensive pulse oximeter similar to this one.
Body Temperature: Kinsa smart thermometer
Breath Ketones: During my fasting mimicking diet experiment I used a device called Ketonix to check breath ketones . Unfortunately, using the device correctly takes a lot of practice and I wasnt able to see a correlation between the breath ketone readings and my blood ketones.
Urinary pH: I used these inexpensive HealthyWiser urinary pH test strips
Activated Charcoal: I took 1-2 activated charcoal capsules to help clear any toxins from my body during my FMD. Be careful because too much activated charcoal can cause constipation!
Green Superfood Powder: I used Amazing Grass Green SuperFood powder to help with plant-based micronutrient needs
Nutritional Data: I primarily used USDA nutrient data from here and here
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May Help You Avoid The Pitfalls Of Extended Water
Although supervised water-only fasting is generally considered a fairly safe treatment option in certain situations, it does come with potential health risks, including pain, fatigue, insomnia, dehydration, and electrolyte imbalances.
Because you still consume a small number of calories over the 5-day FMD protocol, it’s proposed that you should be able to reap some of the rewards of water-only fasting, without the same level of risk, and without necessarily having medical supervision.
The bottom line: The results so far around the FMD are promising, but more long-term, large-scale human studies are needed before we can draw more definite conclusions about the benefits of the diet.
Fasting Mimicking Diet Do It Yourself: Can You Do It At Home
Fasting mimicking diet do it yourself may seem like an interesting idea. If you are generally healthy and have no chronic health problems, you may go ahead with FMD DIY. Start with moderate calorie restriction and mostly consume plant-based foods. You may create your eating plan based on the principles of FMD. The principles include eating:
- Plenty of whole grains, vegetables, and beans. They are the sources of complex carbs.
- Plant-based protein foods. For example, beans, seeds, and nuts. You may occasionally consume protein from animal sources, fish or seafood.
- Foods that contain very little saturated fats.
That said, avoid starting the FMD program on your own if you:
- Have chronic illness
- Take medications
- Are underweight
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Felt More Focused And Energized
Unfortunately, we cant accurately measure the other benefits, but we certainly felt more focused and energized. We didnt feel hungry at all, but I felt a need to load on carbs at the end of the five days.
My mom had all the signs of ketosis. However, she didnt experience the keto flu, which I think was pretty cool. She was just very thirsty and had a headache one day. She was astonished that she didnt feel hungry at all, and she had no cravings or sugar withdrawals.
My mom felt full of energy and worked full time, as usual. She didnt have any other pains other than the headache. When I asked her what she thinks it went so well, she said, jokingly, that she has a strong mind. I have to agree. When she makes up her mind about something, nothing stands in her way.
Rule : Make It Nutritious
I applied the nutritarian approach when I built our menu. Its a term coined by Dr. Joel Fuhrman about a diet that maximizes micro-nutrients and minimizes macro-nutrients. That means a diverse diet rich in nutrient-dense whole foods and not rich in calories. And remember that the point of calorie restriction is not to starve yourself of nutrients on the contrary.
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How To Prepare The Sweet Potato
The sweet potato has to be cooked, cooled, and reheated for a better nutritional profile . I like to cook my sweet potato in the oven, in the skin, with no oil or water. Just in a tray, at 350F, until they are soft to touch. Time will depend on the size of your potatoes.
Then I let them cool, eventually overnight or for a few hours in the fridge, and when Im ready to eat, I reheat them or eat them cold. I douse them in extra virgin olive oil regularly, but Im careful during this cleanse, considering one tablespoon of olive oil has 119 calories.
Can I Create My Own Diy Fasting Mimicking Diet
Dr. Longo summarizes the general principles of the FMD in his book but encourages people to use his specific diet. Im sure thats partially because he designed his exact plan very intentionally to meet his guidelines and also because at least in part money, right?
So, yes, you could make a calorie-restricted, plant based, very low protein, high quality fat diet that you follow for five days. You can actually get a free copy of his book to see what his guidelines are for this and create recipes based on that.
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