The five-day reset diet has been proven to reverse biological age, reduce body fat, and more.
Diet fads come and go, but every now and then one comes along that turns heads.
The Five Day Fasting Mimicking Diet (FMD) is one of these exceptions.
Recently it was found that this nutritional plan manages to reduce a person's biological age by almost three years.
So what is the five-day FMD diet?
This is a program that aims to mimic the effects of fasting while allowing for a certain amount of food consumption.
It was developed by the laboratory of Professor Walter Longo at the Leonard Davis School.
As the name suggests, it involves consuming a low-calorie, low-protein and low-carbohydrate diet for five consecutive days.
During these five days, those who do it can be expected to eat plant-based soups, energy bars, energy drinks, chips and tea, as well as supplements that provide high levels of minerals, vitamins and essential fatty acids.
The short duration of the diet makes it easier and more convenient than longer diet periods.
The program was developed for use in periodic cycles from once every two weeks to a cycle every few months.
Unlike traditional fasting, FMD provides a controlled intake of essential nutrients, allowing people to experience some of the benefits of fasting while still getting essential nutrients.
This feature reduces the concerns associated with long-term fasting, such as nutrient deficiencies.
So what are the health benefits of FMD?
In a first study of its kind, published in the journal Nature Communications, it was found that FMD lowers a person's biological age by an average of two and a half years.
FMD cycles reduced signs of immune system aging, as well as insulin resistance and fatty liver in humans,
also reduced the risks of age-related diseases, resulting in decreased biological age.
This comes after previous research examined the effects of FMD on markers and risk factors associated with aging and age-related diseases.
Subjects who performed FMD for five consecutive days a month for three consecutive months, reduced body weight and total body fat,
reduced blood pressure and lowered serum IGF-1 levels (in this case not necessarily positive) - the essential hormone for tissue and bone growth.
Studies on humans indicate that FMD may improve cognitive function in patients with mild cognitive impairment - a precursor to Alzheimer's.
But more research needs to be done in this area.
Another study found that FMD reduced the signs of dementia in mice.
Animal studies indicate that fasting can reduce levels of amyloid beta in the brain,
a key component of amyloid plaques (folded proteins that play a key role in Alzheimer's).
A new weapon in the fight against cancer?
Over the past few years, researchers have looked into the use of a fasting-mimicking diet in cancer treatment to potentially help slow the growth of tumors,
and make them more sensitive to chemotherapy in certain types of cancer, such as colon and rectal cancer.
In the first clinical trial in humans, an FMD-like diet was found to reduce sugar and other substances in the blood that may feed cancer cells and increase the antitumor response.
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References:
h ttps://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-45260-9?utm_medium=affiliate&utm_source=commission_junction&utm_campaign=CONR_PF0 18_ECOM_GL_PHSS_ALWYS_DEEPLINK&utm_content=textlink&utm_term=PID100093539&CJEVENT=2f132a85f29d11ee822e03ce0a18b8fb
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6816332/
