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https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-02-fasting-diet-lowers-factors-disease.html
Cycles of a diet that mimics fasting can reduce signs of immune system aging, as well as insulin resistance and liver fat in humans, resulting in a lower biological age, according to a new USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology-led study.
The study, published in Nature Communications on Feb. 20, adds to the body of evidence supporting the beneficial effects of the fasting-mimicking diet (FMD).
The FMD is a five-day diet high in unsaturated fats and low in overall calories, protein, and carbohydrates and is designed to mimic the effects of a water-only fast while still providing necessary nutrients and making it much easier for people to complete the fast. The diet was developed by the laboratory of USC Leonard Davis School Professor Valter Longo, the senior author of the new study.
"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 developed by the Levine group to assess biological age," Longo said.
Previous research led by Longo has indicated that brief, periodic FMD cycles are associated with a range of beneficial effects. They can:
Promote stem cell regeneration
- Lessen chemotherapy side effects
- Reduce the signs of dementia in mice
In addition, the FMD cycles can lower the risk factors for cancer, diabetes, heart disease and other age-related diseases in humans.
The Longo lab also had previously shown that one or two cycles of the FMD for five days a month increased the healthspan and lifespan of mice on either a normal or Western diet, but the effects of the FMD on aging and biological age, liver fat, and immune system aging in humans were unknown until now.
More information:Fasting-mimicking diet causes hepatic and blood markers changes indicating reduced biological age and disease risk, Nature Communications (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-45260-9
(Score: 2) by EJ on Sunday February 25 2024, @11:31AM (1 child)
That's the entire point of new research. Just because people are told to avoid X, Y, or Z doesn't mean the advice is scientifically sound. We've been told that X is bad, then X is good, then X is bad again. Research is not always conclusive, and the results are not always interpreted correctly.
I think this guy is trying to say that his studies with this type of diet MIMICS the effects of fasting, giving some benefits without the drawbacks. It sounds similar to new studies about ways to combat insulin resistance in type 2 diabetes.
I'm not saying he's 100% right, but it's worth giving it a shot. Unless you have some serious underlying health problems, this isn't going to kill you.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by RamiK on Sunday February 25 2024, @12:22PM
My intention was more to defend the yo-yo dieters rather than to attack the researchers. The problem is nutritionists turn "good practices" to "the only good practices" by vilifying anything they haven't tested to the point of expanding clinical recommendations to general population.
The problem is so bad that fitness people started treating nutritionists like quacks.
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