Fasting Mimicking Diet: What is it, and does it work?
The fasting mimicking diet is a new form of an age-old practice, fasting. But you get to eat! So, what the heck is this diet and why would you want to mimic fasting? Well, let’s step back into the Paleolithic times to understand better.
Thousands of years ago when our ancestors were hunter/gatherers they were often forced to fast for periods of time when food was scarce. Our bodies have become well adapted to fasting over time and it actually has many benefits. Living in this day and age, we find that food is all around us and available at any time. This leads to most of us eating more than our bodies need or can handle and creates chronic illness and disease. So, it has become popular now to turn back the clock and actually choose to fast from time to time like our ancestors did.
Fasting is currently the topic of over 2800 clinical trials and many benefits have already been discovered. These include:
-reduces inflammation
-improves brain function and slows neurodegeneration (dementia)
-decreases blood sugars
-improves blood pressure, cholesterol and triglycerides
-aids in weight loss
-delays aging through increased autophagy (more on this to come)
-many studies are pointing towards fasting helping chemotherapy be more effective and also for cancer prevention
There are several different forms of fasting. Intermittent fasting is a good place to start. It involves shortening your eating window. So, if you eat breakfast at 8 am and are finished with dinner at 6 pm, then your eating window is 10 hours. Keeping your eating window under 12 hours is a good place to start but you can keep compressing it as it becomes easier.
The newest form of fasting is known as the Fasting Mimicking Diet. It involves eating certain foods low enough in calories to allow your body to think it’s fasting but you actually get to eat. The diet comes in a kit with all the food you need for 5 days. It includes a breakfast nut bar, soups, crackers and more. I can personally attest that the food tastes good! This diet seeks to give you the benefits of fasting, while minimizing hunger, fatigue and headaches. It was created by Dr. Valter Longo, Director of the Longevity Institute of Southern California and is backed by 20+ years of research. This is not a fad diet. The kit is specifically designed, using real food, to provide nutrients and calories while your body still thinks you are fasting. It is backed by over $36 million in research funding from the NIH and European funding.
The main way that fasting provides so many health benefits is by triggering something known as autophagy. Autophagy is your body’s internal “housekeeping.” It is technically when our damaged, old cells are “eaten” to provide fuel for our body to make new, healthy cells. The more clean up that happens, the better you feel and the lower your risk for chronic disease. The mitochondria, or the powerhouses of our cells, are cleaned up as well during autophagy and then can produce even more energy for us!
The company recommends doing the 5-day program once per month for 3 months and then 1-2 times per year for optimal results.
There are contraindications which include: pregnancy or breastfeeding, underweight, children, anyone with an eating disorder, active infection, uncontrolled stress or thyroid problems, diabetics on medication and an allergy to any of the components of the kit.
The kit costs $225 for 5 days. Please reach out to the office (contact@balancedlivingfm.com or 614-547-2829) if you would like to purchase. Dr. Emily will make sure it is appropriate for you.
If you are looking for a way to turn back the clock and reduce the wear and tear of aging, then look no further.
Here’s to a long, healthy life!
In health,
Dr. Emily