Research indicates that fasting can reduce disease risk factors and slow biological aging; however, maintaining caloric restriction for an extended period may prove challenging.
BioAge Health provides physician-supervised intermittent fasting with ProLon FMD for our Eagan area patients to reduce aging and disease risk markers in two clinical trials.
1. Calorie Restriction
Calorie restriction (CR) is a diet plan which reduces caloric intake without malnutrition. Studies have demonstrated its efficacy at significantly extending life span in diverse animals including yeast, worms, rats and mice, as well as decreasing aging-related diseases in humans.
Unfortunately, long-term calorie restriction can be difficult and unsafe for some individuals. Therefore, researchers have sought alternative diets that mimic its health benefits to promote longevity in people. A periodic low-calorie diet alternating between eating regularly and fasting has proven successful at decreasing disease risk factors as well as biological age in humans.
As part of its fasting phase, this special diet sees glucose and insulin levels decrease to promote fat burning while decreasing oxidative stress levels in the body. Thus, this fasting-mimicking diet has been found to lower obesity markers such as blood markers for glycation as well as slow cellular aging in livers and muscles, improving immune function and decreasing inflammation within the brain.
Luigi Fontana, an internationally acclaimed physician scientist who specializes in health and longevity research, spearheaded a two-year CR study wherein the cyclical diet was put through its paces. With his team, blood samples from 63 healthy adults who were divided into one of two clinical trials: either eating their usual diet most of the time; or following an experimental plant-based low-caloric and low-protein meal plan which featured five consecutive days similar to a fast.
At one point during this study, those on a calorie-restricted diet lost their telomeres at a slower rate than control group, suggesting that this diet can slow or reverse human cell aging. Researchers believe this effect was due to increased activity of SIRT2 gene which has been demonstrated to decrease oxidative stress and increase longevity in animal models. Furthermore, thymuses, which produce immune system T cells in chest, grew larger among CR groups while producing more T cells than usual than they did in control group.
2. Intermittent Fasting
An increasing body of research indicates that intermittent fasting may play a pivotal role in healthy aging and extend lifespan. Similar to calorie restriction, intermittent fasting reduces inflammation, improves mitochondrial function and enhances insulin sensitivity while simultaneously supporting weight loss and increasing muscle mass.
Intermittent fasting involves alternating periods of eating and fasting throughout the day, or time-restricted feeding as it’s known. First developed in animal studies, several schedules exist – 16:8 intermittent fasting being one popular variation – in which you eat within an 8-hour window on any given day while fasting for 16 of those hours.
As well as improving metabolic health, adopting this diet offers additional advantages, including healthier skin. One advantage is its ability to prevent oxidative stress that causes wrinkles and other signs of aging; another advantage is increasing collagen production which keeps skin looking supple and youthful; lastly it may help decrease inflammatory conditions such as acne and rosacea by lowering insulin levels.
Before engaging in intermittent fasting, consult your physician first. It’s essential that you understand its advantages and disadvantages as well as any possible health risks, while eating a well-rounded diet with lots of nutrient-rich whole foods to meet your nutritional needs during fasting periods – particularly protein intake!
Some more extreme intermittent fasting plans, like 5:2, require that you eat regularly five days out of seven and restrict calories on two. While this type of regimen can be difficult for beginners to follow and may lead to low energy, less intensive fasting plans such as skipping breakfast and dinner are better suited to beginners; just make sure you consume plenty of water throughout your fast. Bottom line? Intermittent fasting shows promise for healthy aging; however it may not suit all individuals so find an eating plan that best meets your personal health goals and goals!
3. Fasting-Mimicking Diet (FMD)
Fasting-mimicking diets (FMD) have been found to activate stem cell proliferation and cellular reprogramming that extend longevity in mice in laboratory settings. FMD diets consist of low calorie, high fat and low protein consumption for four to seven days at a time. As such, it could become an effective tool in maintaining health through healthy aging or disease regression.
Valter Longo from USC Leonard Davis School of Medicine and colleagues conducted two clinical studies that demonstrated how taking three cycles of FMD reduces biological age by 2.5 years compared to chronological age, along with revitalizing metabolic and immune system function. Blood chemistry data is the best indicator of one’s overall aging status and so biological age estimation can serve as a valuable metric of overall aging status.
Researchers used data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey III (NHANES III) to compare biological age, healthspan and cause-specific mortality between participants who did and did not consume FMD. They estimated life expectancy using model cause-specific death rates assuming participants continued eating three cycles of FMD annually or died due to natural causes at 70.
Researchers discovered that FMD not only decreased obesity, body weight, blood sugar levels and fasting glucose but also significantly decreased markers of inflammation while increasing lymphoid-to-myeloid ratio – an indicator of youthful immunity. Furthermore, in one trial FMD was associated with significant reduction in insulin resistance while another trial saw it lead to significant regression of pre-diabetes.
As opposed to water-only fasts, which are difficult to manage without nutritional support, FMD diets allow individuals to consume a wide range of food including proteins, fruits, vegetables and carbohydrates. While FMD may be easier than water-only fasting in terms of managing strict caloric restrictions and lasting weight loss; many find five day FMD diets difficult and costly for themselves to do on their own; hence Prolon offers coaching and guidance through this process for an additional cost – although this may still require significant financial commitment on an individual’s part.
4. Exercise
Physical exercise has been shown to reverse cellular aging. Exercise improves heart health, increases blood flow and keeps the brain young; improves peak oxygen consumption and optimizes endurance levels; reduces sarcopenia; activates peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma-1 (PGC-1); increases protein synthesis; and enhances balance and motor coordination; the most beneficial exercises include aerobic training such as running, swimming and cycling with resistance training included as part of this regimen.
Scientists are only just beginning to grasp why exercise has antiaging benefits, yet. One explanation may be its ability to reduce inflammation and regulate glucose levels – both factors which help avoid premature aging – as well as its stimulation of growth hormone production and activation of AMPK protein which slows down aging processes and extends lifespan.
Over history, people often experienced periods when food was scarce or unavailable, which forced them to fast. While fasting may have helped these populations survive and thrive, today we can choose when and what we eat – according to researchers, scientists believe our meal times could influence how quickly we age.
Fasting, also known as food restriction or deprivation, may be undertaken for health, religious, ritualistic or ethical purposes. Fasts can last short or long periods, with occasional or daily restrictions placed upon eating and drinking habits; in certain cultures abstaining is seen as part of daily tradition.
Physicians frequently advise fasting prior to surgeries that require general anesthesia in order to protect against pulmonary aspiration of gastric contents, while fasting is also often practiced spiritually and by individuals for initiatory ceremonies. Fasting can also be used as a treatment option or reduce pain; some forms of cancer, cholesterol and blood pressure issues as well as depression and anxiety have all been treated by fasting.
