A recent study by researchers at the University of Southern California discovered enormous advantages to intermittent fasting, which is eating very little for five days a month.
In people, “cycles of a diet that mimics fasting can reduce signs of immune system aging, as well as insulin resistance and liver fat, resulting in a lower biological age,” the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology said in a statement.
The diet, which is low in total calories, protein, and carbs and high in unsaturated fats, is known by researchers as the “fasting-mimicking diet” (FMD). Individuals from 18 to 70 years old who took part in the study consumed an FMD that was “composed of plant-based soups, energy bars, energy drinks, chip snacks, and tea portioned out for five days as well as a supplement providing high levels of minerals, vitamins, and essential fatty acids.” Participants in the control group followed either a standard diet or a Mediterranean diet.
With five days set aside each month for FMD, participants in the study were monitored for three or four months at a time. The outcomes revealed a wide range of advantages, including decreased risk factors for diabetes, a drop in liver and abdominal fat, and enhancements linked to a lower risk of metabolic syndrome. Additionally, lymphoid-to-myeloid ratio increased with FMD cycles, “an indicator of a more youthful immune system,” according to USC researchers. Participants on the fast-like diet decreased their biological age by 2.5 years on average, and their cells and tissue performed better than they did before the diet. The numerous indicators of better health that appeared without the need for prescription drugs or other significant medical procedures astounded researchers.
“This is the first study to show that a food-based intervention that does not require chronic dietary or other lifestyle changes can make people biologically younger, based on both changes in risk factors for aging and disease and on a validated method to assess biological age,” a statement from the study’s author, Valter Longo, stated. “Although many doctors are already recommending the FMD in the United States and Europe, these findings should encourage many more health care professionals to recommend FMD cycles to patients with higher than desired levels of disease risk factors as well as to the general population that may be interested in increased function and younger age.”