|
 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.
The diet (FMD; brand name ProLon) is low in calories, sugars and
protein but high in unsaturated fats. Forty-eight study participants
ate normally for three months while 52 ate FMD for five days each
month and ate normally the rest of the time. After three months, the
groups switched regimens. Although all participants were considered
healthy, some had high blood pressure, low levels of “good”
cholesterol, and other risk factors.
A total of 71 people completed the study, which was published in
Science Translational Medicine. Body mass index, blood pressure,
blood sugar and cholesterol improved with FMD, but mainly for those
who were already at risk. Side effects were mild, including fatigue,
weakness and headaches.
Wei and Dr. Valter Longo of the University of California, San Diego,
said in an interview published in the journal that while “the great
majority” of participants had one or more risk factors for diseases
such as diabetes, heart disease or cancer, “FDA trials will be
necessary to demonstrate whether periodic FMD is effective in
disease prevention and treatment.”
Dr. Joseph Antoun, CEO of L-Nutra, Inc., which produces FMD, told
Reuters Health by email that FMD “is intended for use by individuals
who want to optimize their health and wellbeing, by overweight or
obese individuals who want to manage their weight in an easy and
healthy way, and by people who have abnormal levels of biomarkers
for aging and age-related conditions.”
That said, Antoun acknowledged that if you have common conditions
associated with overweight and obesity such as diabetes,
cardiovascular disease and cancer, you should not use FMD without a
doctor’s approval.
[to top of second column] |
The product also should not be used by children under 18 or pregnant
or nursing women. And it’s not for you if you have certain metabolic
diseases, liver or kidney disorders that may be affected by the very
low glucose and protein content of the diet, or if you have nut or
soy allergies. What’s more, it “should never be combined with
glucose-lowering drugs, such as metformin or insulin,” according to
Antoun.
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.
“Therefore, we don’t yet know how this diet stands up against
long-standing approaches already shown to be beneficial, such as the
Mediterranean or DASH Diet.”
“It’s not clear if (FMD) enables individuals to consistently meet
all micronutrient requirements,” she told Reuters Health by email.
“It’s also not known how this type of restrictive diet affects
muscle mass in the long term, and what impact this has on various
indicators of health.”
“Although there is some evidence showing these type of restrictive
diets can help ‘jump start’ people considering lifestyle changes,
more research is definitely needed before this is recommended for
individuals,” Braun concluded.
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/2keeNFn Science Translational Medicine, online
February 15, 2017.
[© 2017 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2017 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
