Could a Fasting-Like Periodic Fasting Diet Be the Key to a Healthier and Longer Life?

According to a study published in Cell Metabolism, calorie restriction mimicking fasting for 3 months with 5 days per month, in relation to cancer, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases promises a longer, healthier life by reducing a range of risk factors for these diseases (1).

The research team, consisting of Italian and American scientists, presented the diet studied under the name fasting-mimicking diet . In the scientific literature, this approach is also known as intermittent fasting . The team claims that this research demonstrates an anti-aging and healthy-living method that physicians could recommend to patients.

The number of studies on periodic fasting has steadily increased in recent years. In a studyconducted last year and reported on our website, prolonged fasting involving only water for 2-4 days was shown to restart our immune system (reboot the immune system)” (2).

Another study whose results were also announced last year found that periodic fasting protects high-risk individuals against diabetes (3).

However, the research teams emphasized that extreme fasting could cause harm, particularly in older individuals.

The research team first conducted its fasting studies in mice. The mice received, 2 times a month, a 4-day fasting-mimicking diet and were compared with normally fed mice.

Mice fed a fasting-mimicking diet had higher numbers of stem cells and a range of regenerative changes in certain cell types. These included bone, muscle, liver, brain, and immune cells.

Mice following the fasting-mimicking diet were observed to live longer and more healthily. They also showed better learning and memory, while cancer and inflammatory diseases occurred less frequently than in normally fed mice.

Next, the team tested the fasting diet in healthy people aged 18-70, with 19 participants. They followed the fasting diet for 3 months, for 5 days each month (containing %34-54 of their normal daily calorie intake).

Compared with the group receiving a standard diet, the fasting-diet group was found to have lower blood sugar and inflammation marker levels .

The research team states that this fasting diet underwent rigorous review by the American Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and received preliminary approval for clinical use, and that they have now started a study involving 60-70 participants.

In conclusion, periods of fasting resembling a religious fast appear to be an anti-aging and healthy-living method that physicians could recommend to patients, with positive effects on cancer, diabetes, and vascular diseases, apparent safety, and feasibility. However, these clinical findings need confirmation in larger studies. Prolonged fasting in patients must also always be performed under medical supervision.