Monthly cycles of a fasting-mimicking diet may slow metabolic and immune system aging and reduce the risk for metabolic disease.In two clinical trials, monthly 5-day cycles of an FMD showed lower body weight, body fat, and blood pressure at 3 months.
Researchers assessed secondary outcomes for the impact of the diet on risk factors for metabolic syndrome and biomarkers associated with aging and age-related diseases. This study looked at data from nearly half of the original 184 participants from the two clinical trials who went through three to four monthly cycles, adhering to 5 days of an FMD in either a crossover design compared with a normal diet or an intervention group compared to people following a Mediterranean diet.
Abdominal fat and hepatic fat were measured using an MRI in a subset of representative participants. The study also assessed metabolic blood markers and lipids and lymphoid-to-myeloid ratios . Biological age estimation was calculated from seven clinical chemistry measures, and life expectancy and mortality risk estimates and a simulation of continued FMD cycles were based on the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.=.049) reduced after the third FMD cycle, with a 50% reduction in liver fat for the five people with hepatic steatosis.The estimated median biological age of the 86 participants who completed three FMD cycles in both trials decreased by nearly 2.