Who Can Follow A Fasting Mimicking Diet Plan
Its clear that a Fasting Mimicking Diet has a lot of potential benefits! Whether or not it is right for you depends on several factors. Checking with your personal healthcare provider is step one.
If your doctor gives the all-clear, following a Fasting Mimicking diet plan might help:
- Lose weight
- Reduce risk for heart disease, diabetes, autoimmunity, or other chronic health problems
- Manage a condition that FMD has been shown to be helpful for
- Live a long life and promoting healthy aging
A Fasting Mimicking Diet is more of a lifestyle shift with two parts: the 3-7 day fasts where youre taking in fewer calories for a set amount of time, and the other days where you should be eating with health in mind.
Dr. Longo isnt a legalist when it comes to this. As he explains, its about the majority of what youre doing. If you want a small bit of sugar in your coffee, its such a small amount that its not going to rewrite your genetic code. But the cumulative effect of several sugary sodas, desserts, and high-carb, refined foods on a daily basisthose will add up to negatively impact the longevity of your genes.
Learn more from 466: Cynthia Thurlow on What Makes Fasting Unique for Women in this podcast episode.
Final Thoughts On Fasting Mimicking Diets
I notice that while there are several studies on fasting mimicking diets, its the same researchers conducting this research and this makes me wonder why the topic doesnt have broader appeal. Many of these same researchers have financial interest in one of the prepared fasting mimicking diet products, which makes we wonder about potential bias in the research.
All and all, its a fascinating topic. As a registered dietitian, I definitely believe in the power or food, eating to help heal the body. Ill be watching this topic and writing more as more research becomes available.
To read more about intermittent fasting, diet for cancer therapy, check out the other Cancer Bites blogs:
To read more about Intermittent Fasting and enjoy 50 delicious recipes, you can purchase my book Complete Intermittent Fasting
Is Vegetable Glycerine Safe
Vegetable glycerine is commonly used in food & cosmetics. For example in food, its used to prevent icing setting too firm, and for making ice cream softer to scoop.
In a 2012 study into the effectiveness of glycerol for sports performance, they used a dose of 1.2 grams per kilogram of bodyweight for each study participant, with no noted adverse health effects1. 1.2g/kg is a much higher dose than is used in ProLon, which is around 0.3g/kg. Just to re-iterate, glycerine/glycerol are the same thing, however commercially its often referred to as glycerine, and inside the body as glycerol.
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The Fasting Mimicking Diet In Human Clinical Trials
In human clinical trials, participants were put on the fasting mimicking diet for five days a month for three months. There were different participants with different risks, and each risk group was compared to a control group. This means that the at-risk groups results on the FMD were compared to the results obtained from healthy participants undergoing the same diet cycles.
These were some of the results:
- Pre-diabetic patients had a bigger drop in blood glucose levels than the control group.
- Patients with high blood cholesterol had a bigger drop in their levels than those that had lower levels of blood cholesterol to begin with.
- Those with high IGF-1 at the beginning of the trial had a bigger drop in it than the control group with normal baseline levels.
- Patients with high systolic blood pressure levels saw a bigger drop in those levels than those with lower levels.
- Those with high CRP at the beginning of the trial had a bigger drop than those with normal baseline levels.
What these results indicate is that at-risk people could benefit a lot more from undergoing the FMD or prolonged fasting cycles, as their disease markers and risks would decrease significantly more than healthy people.
Should I Take Supplements
You dont have to, but why not ensure you are getting as much of the vitamins and minerals you need during your fast? The Prolon kit comes with an Omega-3 supplement. I use the following supplements:
- Organic raw green powders to boost nutrient intake.
- Aloe vera juice to promote nutrient absorption and healing of the gut lining.
- Fiber blend to feel full and satisfied.
- A probiotic that helps decrease glyphosate in your bloodstream and reduces the C-Reactive inflammation marker.
You can contact me to learn about the exact supplements I have been using.
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How Your Body Reacts To The Fmd
Incredible changes happen in your body during the five day fast:
- Day 1: Primes your body to transition to a fasting state and begin cellular optimization.
- Day 2: Your body is switching to fat burning mode. This is the beginning of cellular recycling and autophagy .
- Day 3: By day 3 many people reach full ketosis. Cellular recycling and clean up continues.
- Day 4: Autophagy continues and stem cells are regenerated.
- Day 5: Stem cell regeneration continues and the body is transformed from within.
Rejuvenation at a cellular level continues for several days after completing the fasting mimicking diet.
Benefits Of The Fasting Mimicking Diet
We all know that a poor diet and excess calories are key factors causing aging and disease. Restricting calories with fasting promotes metabolic and cellular changes, including reducing oxidative damage and inflammation, optimizing energy metabolism, and enhancing cellular protection.
Studies show that the fasting mimicking diet reduces markers and risk factors for aging and several diseases . In a human study, the FMD was found to reduced abdominal fat and cholesterol, lower triglycerides, reduce blood pressure and fasting glucose, and a decrease in C-reactive protein, an inflammatory risk factor . Lets look more closely at the benefits of the FMD.
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Fasting Mimicking Diet Results
Over the last few months, I have been using various fasting mimicking diet meal plans to decrease inflammation and lose weight I did not regain. I lost more weight than that in total but gained some back. I lost my belly fat and have found more food freedom. Read more about my experience in I Went On My DIY Version of the Fasting Mimicking Diet and Heres What Happened. Fasting does get easier with practice! I have confidence that doing the fasting mimicking diet every month will help me reach my goal weight over time and I feel good knowing that I am reducing inflammation in my body as well as increasing cell regeneration.
Changes In Risk Factors And Metabolic Markers Of Age
After 3 months, 43 subjects from the control arm were crossed over to the FMD intervention. Eleven of these subjects withdrew before completing three FMD cycles . Five of these participants withdrew because of scheduling issues, and two subjects opted to leave the trial for unspecificpersonal reasons. We also excluded four participants based on nonadherence to the FMD protocol. The causes for withdrawal/exclusion were comparable between the arms. Considering both FMD treatment arms, 24 of the 95 participants were excluded or withdrew from the study before completion of the three FMD cycles because of scheduling conflicts , personal issues , or dislike of the diet and/or nonadherence to the dietary protocol . The 25% dropout rate for participants during the FMD is higher than the 10% dropout rate observed during control diet in arm 1, but this is expected considering that subjects in control diet group only dropped out because of scheduling conflicts because they were allowed to remain on their normal diet. Ninety-five subjects completed one cycle, and 71 subjects completed three cycles of the FMD. Compared to the 71 participants who completed the three FMD cycles in arms 1 and 2, the 24 subjects who dropped out were not different in age or BMI but were mostly female .
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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
Problem #2 Nutrient And Energy Deficiency
With AFS, your adrenals need to have their nutrient and energy stores replenished, as does your entire body. In fact, a major keystone of adrenal fatigue recovery is eating a nutrient-dense adrenal fatigue diet that focuses on timing your meals to every three to four hours. That way you dont get any blood sugar spikes or crashes, which are common in AFS patients. These are huge stressors on your body as well.
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May Slow Aging And Mental Decline
One of the main reasons Dr. Longo developed the Fasting Mimicking Diet was to slow the aging process and risk of certain diseases by promoting the bodys ability to self-repair through cellular regeneration.
Autophagy is a process in which old, damaged cells are recycled to produce new, healthier ones.
Intermittent fasting has been shown to optimize autophagy, which may protect against mental decline and slow cellular aging.
A study in mice found that short-term food restriction led to a dramatic increase of autophagy in nerve cells .
Another study in rats with dementia showed that alternate-day food deprivation for 12 weeks led to greater reductions in oxidative damage to brain tissue and reduced mental deficits compared to a control diet .
Other animal studies have demonstrated that fasting increases the generation of nerve cells and enhances brain function .
Whats more, intermittent fasting has been shown to decrease insulin-like growth factor a hormone that, at high levels, can increase the risk of certain cancer, such as breast cancer .
However, more human studies need to be carried out to fully understand how fasting may impact aging and disease risk.
Summary
The Fasting Mimicking Diet may promote weight loss, enhance autophagy, and reduce blood sugar, cholesterol, and inflammation.
Avocados Or Macadamia Nuts
You will need 10 avocados to last you 5 days.
You will eat 1 avocado for lunch and 1 avocado for dinner. You can get them at your grocery store, or you can buy them online.
Avocados can be kept in the fridge to keep them from maturing too quickly and to keep their freshness.
The health benefits of avocados are amazing, and even if you dont do the FMD, you should incorporate one avocado per day in your daily routine. Avocados are anti-inflammatory foods that are great for digestion, heart health, arthritis, and autoimmune diseases.
If youre using macadamia nuts, you want to have enough to support you for 5 days You will be crushing the macadamia nuts to measure them. You will be eating 4 tablespoons of macadamia nuts twice a day .
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The Bottom Line On The Fasting Mimicking Diet
The fasting Mimicking Diet is a great way to help you not only lose weight on the outside, but also visceral fat on the inside of the body, at the organ level.
The FMD will help reboot your immune system, while potentially reversing some adverse health conditions including lowering blood pressure and improving the bad effects of diabetes.
The Fasting Mimicking Diet should not last more than 5 days each month, or every other month.
What about you?
Have you ever been on the Fasting Mimicking Diet? Share your experience and let us know your opinion on the subject.
Be well.
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How Much Does Prolon Cost
The ProLon meal kit costs between $225 $249 depending upon how many meal kits you buy at one time. If you buy 1-2 boxes, you pay $249 per box. If you order 3 or more boxes, you pay $225 per box. There is also an option to get subscribe to an auto-ship for $225 per box.
If you break it down by day, your cost is about $50 per day.
That is a bit steep, but since this lasts only 5 days and is to be done only once every 6 months it could be a good option.
For those who like the idea but want to do this with food from the grocery store, Ill outline a do-it-yourself version.
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Helps You Lose Body Fat And Increase Lean Body Mass
The fasting mimicking diet is great for weight loss. It pushes the body into fat-burning mode mainly using abdominal fat for energy.
Following the fasting mimicking diet for three months was shown to reduce body weight and body fat and improve body mass index. . This diet may help you lose the excess unwanted fat while maintaining muscle and lean body mass.
Freeze Beans In Souper Cubes
Soaking and pressure cooking beans and lentils in advance and freezing them in individual portions are some of them. For freezing, I use Stasher bags and Souper Cubes.
Souper Cubes
My favorite ways of freezing food are with Souper Cubes. You can buy the Souper Cubes here.
Take out a frozen cube, warm it up in the microwave, on the stove, or bake in the oven. Warm your food up the way that works best for you!
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How To Follow A Fasting Mimicking Diet Plan
One of the main principles of an FMD plan is to eat low protein and high unsaturated fat, and then reduce calories during the fasting period. The average FMD plan will include around 1,100 calories the first day, and just 800 or less the next few days.
Protein restriction combined with the fasting-mimicking protocol is what gives the diet plan its beneficial effects. So, no, you cant just eat high-protein for your allotted calories during the fast. Healthy fats are also important for the diets benefits.
How to start? Read Dr. Longos book The Longevity Diet for the official full plan and everything you need to start. Dr. Longo says that the FMD can be done anywhere from a few times a year to once a month, depending on your current state of health and age.
Example Meal Plan
If you want to do a DIY Fasting Mimicking Diet, its wise to consult a nutrition professional for a personalized plan. The following meal plan should only be used to give you an idea of what you might expect to eat on a five-day FMD plan:
Wellness Mama Fast Latte Recipe
Afternoon: 3 cups bone broth and 2 cups raw spinach wilted in a ½ tbsp olive oil = 200 caloriesEvening: 1 cup vegetable bean soup, homemade, and 1 tbsp chopped almonds = 200 calories
If you do follow a Fasting Mimicking Diet, make sure that you follow proper refeeding techniques at the end. Breaking a fast by rushing headlong into eating high-calorie, high-carb, and high-fat meals will make you feel sick and can be dangerous.
Can I Drink Coffee And Tea While On The Fmd Diet
Herbal tea is permitted while following the FMD diet. It is recommended to stop all caffeine during the fast but one cup of caffeinated coffee or caffeinated tea is permitted for people who are unable to cut out all caffeine due to severe headache withdrawal. Please only consume organic tea and coffee.
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Eating While Fasting How Does That Work
The fasting-mimicking diet is the newest form of the ancient practice of fasting. But what exactly is it?
For centuries, fasting has been used to promote mental clarity, physical rejuvenation, and spiritual awakening. Today, fasting is a diet darling, currently being researched in over 2800 clinical trials. Some of the questions being posed include:
Does fasting slow aging?
Is fasting beneficial for weight loss?
Can it be used to help manage illnesses, including autoimmune diseases, depression, and cancer?
There are several ways to fast, some forms of fasting exclude food for certain hours in a day, others eliminate food completely.
The newest form of fasting, known as the Fasting Mimicking Diet , is now in the mix. It is an approach to fasting that effectively tricks your body into thinking it is fasting while allowing some food intake. A fasting-mimicking diet aims to reap the benefits of fasting while minimizing the challenging parts of fasting, such as hunger, fatigue, and headaches.
Sounds too good to be true? There is actually solid science behind the claims and more studies in progress. Lets look into what the fasting-mimicking diet is and what the research says so far.
*Dr. Burkhart has no financial affiliation with Prolon. She is receiving no financial or product compensation for this article.
Benefits Of Fasting
