The Fasting Mimicking Diet - Everything You Need To Know!

There’s no doubt that fasting is a powerful tool.

While it’s highly effective and inexpensive, fasting can be challenging for many folks.

Going without food seems daunting, despite your body’s innate ability to cope.

Fortunately, there are alternatives to long, strict fasts.

One such alternative is the Fasting Mimicking Diet, which involves small amounts of food over several days.

Studies show that this ultra-low-calorie fasting style is as effective as strict no-calorie fasting and more doable for those unable to adhere to such a regimen.

The following article details everything you need to know about the Fasting Mimicking Diet, its science, and the best way to get started.

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Promotes cellular rejuvenation
Aids in weight management
Plant-based, nutrient-rich meals
Backed by scientific research

Pros

Convenient fasting program
Nutrient-dense meals
Supports overall health
Research-driven approach

Cons

Requires commitment
Limited food variety
Premium pricing
Specific dietary restrictions

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What Is The Fasting Mimicking Diet?

The fasting mimicking diet is a 5-day, ultra low calorie protocol whose physiological effects mimick that of traditional, prolonged fasting.

Fasting Mimicking Diet Health Benefits

The fasting mimicking diet is the perfect fasting medium to get all the fasting benefits without the added risk factors of traditional, prolonged fasting.

It’s adoption is backed by many studies showing it’s ability to achieve similar to those of prolonged fasting, especially in terms of weight loss.¹

In short, the fasting mimicking diet is easily doable and has better compliance compared to prolonged fasting protocols.

What I love about the FMD, is that it’s only 5 days.

It doesn’t require a long-term commitment to restricting calories and feeling miserable.

The short-term, intense calorie restriction saves you from the adverse effects of fasting (i.e. hunger pangs) by mediating the effects of starvation on the brain and metabolic function.²

The potential benefits of a fasting-mimicking diet include:

Weight Loss

Weight loss is undoubtedly the number one benefit of the fasting mimicking diet.

It follows the simple edict that the less you put in your body, the more will fall off.

Despite the added calories, its body fat-burning capabilities are comparable to traditional fasting.

The Fasting mimicking diet triggers weight loss while positively impacting conditions such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease.³

The low-protein, low-calorie diet helps you lose body fat while keeping lean muscle mass.

For example, participants of a trial doing FMD reported a 3.1% reduction in body weight and an increase in lean body mass.⁴

These weight reduction benefits may be in part to the FMD’s ability to improve serum levels of the appetite-regulating hormone (ghrelin) while reducing insulin resistance and preserving muscle mass.⁵

Aging

Healthy, slower aging is one significant area where the fasting-mimicking diet truly shines.

Animal studies and human trials have revealed that calorie restriction diets promote a process called autophagy (killing own cells) which removes dead cells and allows for the regeneration of new ones.⁶

Dr. Valter Longo created this very diet plan to help fight rapid aging.

In fact, it’s been shown that in as little as 3 months the FMD can achieve the main biomarkers of decreased aging.⁷

FMD cycles of 5 consecutive days, once per month, have been shown to keep different age-related diseases (diabetes, cancer, and cardiovascular disease) at bay.

Cardiovascular Disease

Cardiovascular abnormalities and pathologies are one of modern society’s most significant health issues.

Monthly FMD cycles improve the health of your heart in multiple ways.

The extremely potent diet plan reduces the risk of metabolic syndrome, increases vascularity of the heart, and attenuates obesity.⁸

Human studies suggest that intermittent fasting and periodic diets such as FMD play a vital role in preventing cardiovascular pathologies and risk factors.⁹

It is also believed that a fasting-mimicking diet positively impacts blood pressure.

In groups of individuals willing to lose weight by fast mimicking diet, researchers found a drop of 4.5mmHg in the systolic blood pressure along with notable weight loss. Both of these markers contribute significantly to a healthy heart.

Researchers have also examined the fasting mimicking diet’s influence on levels of trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO), a cardio-damaging metabolite when found in high levels in the blood.

Restrictive eating as in FMD evidently reduces the levels of TMAO, decreasing the risk of cardiometabolic diseases.¹⁰

Diabetes

Of all the benefits of FMD, glycemic control/diabetes prevention is the most impressive as it promotes disease prevention by modulating blood glucose levels.

Intermittent application of a fasting-mimicking diet abates fasting blood glucose and, to everyone’s surprise, even reverses diabetes.

This is done by restoring pancreatic cells (beta-cells) and reconstructing microflora in the gut.¹¹

As it brings the pancreatic cells back to life, you can expect to see improvement in insulin levels too.

It is undoubtedly a very effective intervention in halting diabetes progression.

As seen in one controlled trial, a fasting-mimicking diet improves symptoms of metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes, inducing weight loss, and a reduction in waist circumference in the human body.¹²

Fasting in diabetes (FIT) clinical trials also revealed that type 2 diabetes patients following the fasting-mimicking diet need lesser anti-diabetic medications.¹³

Cancer

Like traditional fasting, the fasting mimicking diet also seems to confer some anti-cancer benefits.

A handful of studies support the superb performance of a fasting-mimicking diet in preventing and suppressing cancer.

Cyclic FMD eating pattern induces strong antitumor immunity in cancer patients and is well tolerated.¹⁴

When introduced as an adjunct to chemotherapy for breast cancer, FMD is associated with tumor cell loss.

These results encourage more research to explore the benefits of FMD in cancer treatment.¹⁵

Unfortunate individuals suffering from mutated tumors in colorectal cancer have seen benefits from a combination of vitamin C consumption and a fasting-mimicking diet.¹⁶

Restricting normal caloric intake (as in intermittent fasting and fasting-mimicking diets) reduces tumor progression, therefore, should be used in conjunction with chemotherapeutic drugs.¹⁷

Auto-Immune Disease

Studies on the fasting mimicking diet show a positive impact on overall immunity, especially pertaining to auto-immune disease.

Reducing your food intake as in the FMD can promote anti-inflammatory effects throughout your body, translating to alleviation and reversal of autoimmune disorders. ¹⁸

FMD has proven to be a magic wand in treating multiple sclerosis (an auto-immune disease characterized by nerve damage).

FMD is a safe and feasible treatment option for MS. It promotes regeneration of the affected nerve cells i.e. oligodendrocytes¹⁹

Inflammatory bowel disease, IBD, is another autoimmune disease that is positively improved with calorie restriction like that seen in the fasting mimicking diet.²⁰

Science Behind The Fasting Mimicking Diet

The fasting mimicking diet alters the nutrient-sensing pathway in the body.

This modulation of the breakdown of essential nutrients is also linked to autophagy.²¹

By amping up the process of autophagy, the body begins to get rid of dead cells, metabolites, and toxic items, thereby ensuring healthy aging and distance from chronic ailments.

Fasting Mimicking Diet vs Normal Fasting

In short, the fasting-mimicking diet renders the same benefits as regular fasting.

The biggest difference is that a fasting mimicking diet includes small amounts of daily calorie intake while normal fasting is typically free of any calories.

While some fasting purists may not be sold on this approach, the fasting mimicking diet is as effective as a traditional fast in terms of weight loss, metabolism, and longevity benefits.

For those unsure of how to get started the Prolon Fasting Mimicking Diet service offers all the food you need in the necessary proportions for the 5-day protocol. Learn more…

Intermittent Fasting

Intermittent fasting is the practice of regular, long intermittent bouts of fasting with shorter windows of eating.

Typical intermittent fasting periods include 16 hours fasting, with 8 hour feeding windows, or 1-3, 24-hour fasts per week.

This eating plan is effective in fat burning and weight loss.²²

Just like the ketogenic diet (keto diet) and FMD, intermittent fasting has potential benefits on insulin resistance, weight loss, and cardiometabolic health.²³

Best Way To Get Started: Prolon Fasting Mimicking Diet

The one drawback of a DIY fasting-mimicking diet is the required effort in tracking calories.

Because the allowable caloric intake is so precise, you end up spending a lot of time weighing food and tracking calories.

For those lacking the time and/or patience to adhere to this regimen, the Prolon fasting-mimicking diet is a great option.

It’s a ready-made FMD box kit of ready-made food that includes certain foods which comply to the necessary caloric intake for a successful fasting-mimicking week

The meal-kit includes 5 days’ worth of delicious food items that are FMD compliant such as plant-based energy bars, almond and kale crackers snacks, drinks (herbal teas), soups, and supplements.

Prolon’s subscribers regularly report back with amazing results including: