Summary: Cycles of a fasting-mimicking diet (FMD) can effectively reduce signs of immune system aging, insulin resistance, and liver fat, thereby decreasing biological age in humans.
The FMD is a five-day plan high in unsaturated fats but low in calories, proteins, and carbohydrates, designed to emulate the effects of water-only fasting while providing essential nutrients. This intervention, which doesn’t require chronic lifestyle changes, has shown in clinical trials to rejuvenate metabolic and immune functions, lowering the risk factors for various age-related diseases and reducing participants’ biological age by an average of 2.5 years.
The findings bolster the case for the FMD as a manageable, periodic dietary intervention to enhance health and longevity without drastic lifestyle overhauls.
Key Facts:
- FMD Benefits: The fasting-mimicking diet has been linked to numerous health benefits, including stem cell regeneration, reduced chemotherapy side effects, decreased signs of dementia in mice, and lowered risk factors for several chronic diseases in humans.
- Clinical Trial Findings: Participants in the FMD group of the study experienced significant improvements in metabolic health, including reduced insulin resistance and liver fat, alongside indications of a rejuvenated immune system.
- Biological Age Reduction: Through the FMD, participants were able to reduce their biological age by an average of 2.5 years, showcasing the diet’s potential for enhancing cellular and tissue function.
Source: USC
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, which appears 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.
Lower disease risks & more youthful cells
The study analyzed the diet’s effects in two clinical trial populations, each with men and women between the ages of 18 and 70. Patients who were randomized to the fasting-mimicking diet underwent 3-4 monthly cycles, adhering to the FMD for 5 days, then ate a normal diet for 25 days.
The FMD is comprised of plant-based soups, energy bars, energy drinks, chip snacks, and tea portioned out for 5 days as well as a supplement providing high levels of minerals, vitamins, and essential fatty acids. Patients in the control groups were instructed to eat either a normal or Mediterranean-style diet.
An analysis of blood samples from trial participants showed that patients in the FMD group had lower diabetes risk factors, including less insulin resistance and lower HbA1c results.
Magnetic resonance imaging also revealed a decrease in abdominal fat as well as fat within the liver, improvements associated with a reduced risk of metabolic syndrome. In addition, the FMD cycles appeared to increase the lymphoid-to-myeloid ratio – an indicator of a more youthful immune system.
Further statistical analysis of the results from both clinical studies showed that FMD participants had reduced their biological age – a measure of how well one’s cells and tissues are functioning, as opposed to chronological age – by 2.5 years on average.
“This study shows for the first time evidence for biological age reduction from two different clinical trials, accompanied by evidence of rejuvenation of metabolic and immune function,” Longo said.
The study, conducted by first authors Sebastian Brandhorst, USC Leonard Davis research associate professor, and Morgan E. Levine, founding principal investigator of Altos Labs and USC Leonard Davis PhD alumna, lends more support to the FMD’s potential as a short-term periodic, achievable dietary intervention that can help people lessen their disease risk and improve their health without extensive lifestyle changes, Longo said.
“Although many doctors are already recommending the FMD in the United States and Europe, these findings should encourage many more healthcare 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,” Longo said.
About this diet and aging research news
Author: Leigh Hopper
Source: USC
Contact: Leigh Hopper – USC
Image: The image is credited to Neuroscience News
Original Research: The findings will appear in Nature Communications
