At the same time, their total body fat went down.As for fasting glucose, those who had blood sugar levels supporting a trend toward prediabetes saw their levels drop to a healthier range, here defined as below 5.5 mmol/l.Those who had abnormal cholesterol values to begin with had a reduction of their total cholesterol by 0.5 mmol/l and experienced decreases in triglycerides as well as low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol.The findings suggest that periodically reducing energy intake through the consumption of a low-carb, ketogenic type of diet may confer some of the benefits of a full blown fast - which is very difficult for most people to do.For more information about eating a low-carb diet , check out our Low Carb Program Researchers at the University of Southern California (USC) have recently shown that a periodic ketogenic diet exerts similar beneficial effects to fasting on metabolic disease risk factors.To date, most scientific papers about fasting have focused on how it can improve markers of aging and were conducted in animals.This study - albeit small with 71 people - done by USC is one of the first controlled experiments implementing a fasting-mimicking diet in free-living human subjects.The participants involved in this trial did not have type 2 diabetes , but some of them had high blood sugar levels and were predisposed to various metabolic disease risk factors.Researchers tested whether a fasting-mimicking diet (FMD), designed and studied by Valter Longo, the director of the Longevity Institute at USC, could reduce those risks.Longo has spent the last few years trying to figure out how much we can add to the diet of someone before we lose the effects of fasting and how to formulate it.He came up with something that is "low"-calorie (up to 1,100 calories per day), low-protein, low-sugar, and relatively high-fat that does exactly that.This is what the research team had participants consume five days a week for three months before measuring the evolution of their body composition, fasting glucose, and cholesterol levels.According to the results, published in Science Translational Medicine, participants lost an average of about six pounds and trimmed their waistlines by one to two inches.
Fasting diet lowers risk for major diseasesNew research from the University of Southern California's Leonard Davis School of Gerontology has shown that a scientifically developed fasting diet not only aids in weight loss, it may also help lower the risk of developing major diseases. The fasting diet effectively reduced participants' risk for developed age-related disease such as diabetes and heart disease. This diet was found to reduce risk factors for cardiovascular disease like blood pressure and inflammation, while increasing participants' metabolism. Encouraged by these results, researchers then made those in the first group follow the fasting diet, and found similar beneficial outcomes. Related: Fasting diet that mimics fasting for 5 days can slow down agingShare this informationPeople who read this article benefited from…Related Reading:Delicious smoothie helps lower blood pressureEat this for healthy blood pressureSources:http://stm.sciencemag.org/content/9/377/eaai8700
'Fasting-mimicking' diet said to reduce risk factors for aging
(Reuters Health) – Following a diet that mimics fasting may reduce risk factors for disease in generally healthy people, according to a small study. Dr. Min Wei of UCLA's Longevity Institute and colleagues tested the effects of the fasting-mimicking diet on various risk factors for diabetes, heart disease, cancer or other conditions. Although all participants were considered healthy, some had high blood pressure, low levels of "good" cholesterol, and other risk factors. The diet (FMD; brand name ProLon) is low in calories, sugars and protein but high in unsaturated fats. Registered dietitian Ashlea Braun of the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center in Columbus pointed out that researchers compared the fasting-mimicking diet to participants' usual diet.
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