The Science Behind our Fasting-Mimicking Program

The Science Behind our Fasting-Mimicking Program

Written by Zuzana Sarnovska. Zuzana is Nutritional Scientist with a M.Sc. in Human Nutrition and Health.


Why is fasting beneficial?

We know that water fasting comes with an impressive list of benefits as long as you can handle not eating at all.

  • Decreases oxidative damage and inflammation
  • Maximises your energy metabolism
  • Strengthens cellular protection
  • Reduces weight
  • Decreases blood pressure
  • Improves Asthma
  • Counteracts rheumatoid arthritis

In mice, fasting also protected against cancer, diabetes, and neurological diseases like Alzheimer’s.

Maybe even more astonishing, in yeast fasting consistently, doubled lifespan (and quadruplet it in bacteria!).

Initially, researchers believed that the positive effects of fasting came to be when our mammalian ancestors had to endure longer periods of hunger. Nowadays we know that the mechanisms are much older – billions of years older. Most likely they evolved in small organisms that had to survive in extremely hostile environments, when life on our earth had just begun.

Generally, fasting has beneficial effects due to the switch from carbs to fats as our body’s main source of fuel. At the same time this switch starts-up the production of critical enzymes that trigger protective responses in our cells.

But does fasting-mimicking achieve the same? And what is it even?


What is fasting-mimicking?

In a market full of juice cleanses, meal replacements and fat-loss wonder pills, it would be easy to overlook yet another fasting diet. Depending on your personal goals and maybe even your interest in the newest science, fasting-mimicking might still be worthy of a second glance.

Fasting-mimicking is based on over 25 years of longevity research and won’t completely eliminate food from your plate.

  • Most fasting-mimicking plans last 5 days.
  • The fast will still allow you to eat 800 to 1100 kcal per day.
  • The fast contains high amounts of unsaturated fats but reduces the intake of carbs and protein to a minimum.
  • For long-lasting results, it is recommended to repeat the fast at least twice a year.

Are you excited about fasting without having to give up on food but are skeptical whether fasting-mimicking works as well as a regular fast? There’s always something to gain with sacrifice, right?

It’s an understandable thought. So let’s look at how fasting-mimicking gets you the same benefits as a regular fast without cutting out food completely.


How does it work?

As we talked about, fasting-mimicking reduces the intake of carbs and protein to a minimum but still keeps high amounts of unsaturated fats on the menu. Since we have fat to use as an energy source even if we don’t eat, this is similar to a regular fast.

In fact, as most fasting regiments, a fasting-mimicking program - like reSET - switches your body’s main fuel from sugar to fats, which triggers a similar response in your metabolism as a zero-calorie fast.


Who is it for?

Despite the fact that the benefits of fasting are widely known in the scientific community and have been used by religious groups for millennia, not many of us are able to completely forgo food.

Especially strict forms of water fasting lead to side effects like headaches, dizziness and strong cravings, making them impossible to follow in our often-stressful daily lives.

In more extreme cases these types of fasts may even lead to nutritional deficiencies, slowed healing of wounds, and an inhibited immune system, making them dangerous.

In contrast, the fasting-mimicking diet shows a long list of beneficial effects on our health and longevity while at the same time reducing the risk of deficiencies:

  • Reduces body weight and body fat
  • Decreases blood pressure
  • Decreases risk of diabetes
  • Decreases hormone levels related to ageing and disease (IGF-1)
  • Decreases inflammation
  • Supports cancer therapy and reduced cancer incidence
  • Improves gut flora
  • Enhances mental clarity

As a result, fasting-mimicking is suitable for anyone seeking to improve their health, wellbeing, and intellect.


What is the science behind it?

The first fasting-mimicking program was invented at the University of Southern California (USC) under the leadership of Dr. Valter Longo.

Since then, it was most notably tested in a pilot study in 2015 with 38 participants and a clinical study in 2017 with 71 participants who repeated the fasting-mimicking program for five days each month for three consecutive months. Both studies were conducted by the same research group at the USC.

Three cycles of fasting-mimicking significantly reduced body weight and body fat, lowered blood pressure and decreased IGF-1, the hormone associated with ageing.

At the same time no serious side effects were reported during the study. In addition, the study showed the fast was most effective for people with the worst baseline values.


Who should wait before trying?

Although fasting-mimicking has been proven to be safe for most people, there are cases when you need to wait or not do it at all:

  • Do not fast if you are currently pregnant or breast-feeding.
  • Do not fast if you’re currently suffering or have a history of eating disorders.
  • Don’t do fasting-mimicking if you suffer from nut-allergies
  • Do not fast if you have a diagnosed nutritional deficiency

In general, only fast if you are in good health. Do not fast or mimic fasting when you are sick.

 

Would you like to try?

Eat by Alex has put together reSET, a 5-day Fasting-mimicking Program, where for 5 days we provide your with the right nutrition & training plan.

 

 

Sources

  • Wei, M., Brandhorst, S., Shelehchi, M., Mirzaei, H., Cheng, C. W., Budniak, J., … & Longo, V. D. (2017). Fasting-mimicking diet and markers/risk factors for aging, diabetes, cancer, and cardiovascular disease. Science translational medicine, 9(377), eaai8700.
  • Fontana, L., Partridge, L., & Longo, V. D. (2010). Extending healthy life span—from yeast to humans. science, 328(5976), 321-326.
  • Longo, V. D., & Mattson, M. P. (2014). Fasting: molecular mechanisms and clinical applications. Cell metabolism, 19(2), 181-192.
  • de Toledo, F. W., Grundler, F., Bergouignan, A., Drinda, S., & Michalsen, A. (2019). Safety, health improvement and well-being during a 4 to 21-day fasting period in an observational study including 1422 subjects. PloS one, 14(1), e0209353.
  • Caffa, I., Spagnolo, V., Vernieri, C., Valdemarin, F., Becherini, P., Wei, M., … & Nencioni, A. (2020). Fasting-mimicking diet and hormone therapy induce breast cancer regression. Nature, 583(7817), 620-624.
  • Rangan, P., Choi, I., Wei, M., Navarrete, G., Guen, E., Brandhorst, S., … & Longo, V. D. (2019). Fasting-mimicking diet modulates microbiota and promotes intestinal regeneration to reduce inflammatory bowel disease pathology. Cell reports, 26(10), 2704-2719.
  • Brandhorst, S., & Longo, V. D. (2019). Protein quantity and source, fasting-mimicking diets, and longevity. Advances in Nutrition, 10(Supplement_4), S340-S350.
  • https://prolon-fasten.com/ist-prolon-fuer-mich-geeignet/
  • Brandhorst, S., Choi, I. Y., Wei, M., Cheng, C. W., Sedrakyan, S., Navarrete, G., … & Longo, V. D. (2015). A periodic diet that mimics fasting promotes multi-system regeneration, enhanced cognitive performance, and healthspan. Cell metabolism, 22(1), 86-99.
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