Why I Recommend the Fasting Mimicking Diet (FMD) for Heart Health Patients

As a holistic cardiologist, my focus is on treating the root causes of heart disease rather than just addressing the symptoms. Over the years, I have integrated a variety of lifestyle-based interventions into my practice, and one of the most powerful tools I have discovered is the Fasting Mimicking Diet (FMD), as it not only manages symptoms but also targets the underlying mechanisms that contribute to heart disease.

By addressing multiple aspects of cardiometabolic health simultaneously - such as maintaining blood vessel health and lipid profiles, lowering blood pressure, enhancing glucose metabolism, promoting fat loss while preserving muscle mass, and reducing biological (cellular) age score - the FMD offers a comprehensive, holistic approach to heart health. In the following article, I explore the scientific evidence supporting these benefits.

Blood Vessel Health

The inner lining of blood vessels, known as the endothelium, plays a vital role in cardiovascular health. When this lining is damaged, it can prevent blood vessels from widening properly, leading to conditions like atherosclerosis (clogged arteries) and elevated blood pressure.

A clinical trial explored the FMD’s impact on vascular health, which compared 120 days of the Mediterranean Diet, often regarded as the gold standard for heart health, with 20 days of the FMD (that’s four, 5-day cycles of FMD over the course of four months). This trial showed that FMD equaled the Mediterranean Diet in multiple cardiovascular-related areas, and even outperformed it in some areas. Some of these benefits include: 

• Reduced PULS Score: FMD significantly lowered the PULS (Protein Unstable Lesion Signature) score, which measures the five-year risk of developing major cardiovascular events, including heart attacks and strokes.
  
  
• Preserved Arterial Compliance: FMD maintained arterial elasticity, ensuring blood vessels retained their ability to expand and contract with each heartbeat, supporting healthy blood flow and reducing strain on the heart.
  
  
• “Younger” Endothelium: FMD was shown to enhance the Reactive Hyperemia Index (RHI), a key measure of how well blood vessels widen in response to increased blood flow), which when paired with improving heart health metrics like those listed above, indicate that FMD may reverse or slow the aging of blood vessels, preserving their function and flexibility.

These findings highlight the FMD's unique advantage in rejuvenating blood vessels and improving long-term cardiovascular risk markers, making it a valuable tool for promoting heart health and longevity in clinical practice.

Glucose, Diabetes, and Heart Disease

High blood glucose levels can damage blood vessels, leading to atherosclerosis and poor circulation, which in turn exacerbates glucose control issues and increases the risk of heart disease. Uncontrolled glucose levels can lead to type 2 diabetes, which compounds these risks by promoting insulin resistance, inflammation, high blood pressure, and abnormal cholesterol levels, further harming the cardiovascular system. 

FMD has been shown to improve glucose regulation, helping to protect the heart and vascular system from diabetes-related damage. It offers a comprehensive solution for both metabolic and heart health, with key findings showing its pivotal role in breaking the cycle of poor glucose metabolism.

Specifically, recent studies highlight the efficacy of FMD in improving key markers of glucose regulation, especially for those with type 2 diabetes. Participants using the FMD experienced: 

• Significant reduction in both HbA1c and blood glucose levels, supporting long-term blood sugar control and protecting blood vessels to enhance circulation.
  
  

• Decreased need for medications: In some cases, patients were able to reduce or even eliminate their reliance on blood sugar medications. (Additional trials completed by L-Nutra Health, the medical division of L-Nutra, use FMD protocols to support the reversal of diabetes and metabolic issues.)
  
  
• Improved insulin sensitivity, critical for both diabetes management and heart health.

These findings emphasize how improving glucose control through FMD can have a profound impact on both diabetes management and cardiovascular health.

Lowering Cholesterol and Blood Pressure

One of the key reasons I recommend FMD to my heart health patients is its ability to potentially improve lipid profiles, including significantly reducing LDL cholesterol levels, the “bad” cholesterol. In addition, FMD can lower blood pressure, another critical factor in maintaining cardiovascular health. By improving these key markers, FMD helps to lessen the overall burden on the heart and vascular system.

Specifically, key findings include:

• FMD lowered blood pressure, even in healthy individuals (Study).
  
  
• Participants with elevated levels in key metabolic markers—such as glucose, triglycerides, cholesterol, and C-reactive protein—experienced significant improvements.  (Study).

These findings reinforce the growing evidence that FMD is a valuable, science-backed option for improving cardiovascular health.

Fat Loss with Muscle Protection

A healthy weight and muscle mass is crucial for maintaining metabolic health and overall function, and both play vital roles in cardiovascular health. One of the biggest challenges in weight management, especially for heart patients, is losing fat while preserving muscle mass.  And while traditional diets often result in fat loss, they typically cause muscle loss as well. For example, up to 40% of the weight loss from GLP-1 use, on average, comes from the loss of lean tissue, including muscle mass. 

The FMD is specifically designed to promote fat loss while preserving lean body mass, a key factor in reducing cardiac risk, as is evidenced in these trial results: 

• FMD showed superior results in protecting muscle mass while promoting fat-specific weight loss compared to the Mediterranean diet (Mediterranean Diet trial).
  
  
• Healthy individuals lost an average of 5.7 pounds over three cycles of FMD, with significant muscle preservation (Min Wei trial).
  
  
• Patients with type 2 diabetes lost an average of 22 pounds over six cycles of FMD, with significant muscle mass preservation (Sulaj trial).

By preserving muscle mass, the FMD supports metabolic efficiency, which in turn can lower the risk of conditions like high blood pressure and dyslipidemia (an imbalance of fats like cholesterol or triglycerides in the blood). This not only reduces cardiac risk factors but also improves physical function and overall quality of life.

Reducing Biological Age

The Fasting Mimicking Diet (FMD) is a critical component of the "longevity diet," for good reason; clinical studies show it may reduce biological age scores by an average of 2.5 years. This reduction is profound, as it correlates with a decreased risk of heart disease, cognitive decline, and other age-related conditions.

FMD affects biological age through a number of mechanisms, with one of the most significant being its ability to trigger the cellular reprogramming process:

• Autophagy: FMD activates the body’s natural recycling process, clearing out and recycling old, damaged cells. This helps reduce the impact of cellular senescence, the gradual deterioration of cells that contributes to aging and disease. By eliminating dysfunctional components, cells are able to operate more efficiently.
  
  
• Cellular Reprogramming: After autophagy clears out cellular waste, the body begins the process of cellular reprogramming, which effectively 'resets' how cells function. This transformation supports DNA repair, enhances cellular metabolism, and improves communication between cells, making way for younger, higher-functioning cells to thrive. These rejuvenated cells work more efficiently, supporting key metabolic markers and immune health, ultimately helping to slow the aging process. 

About The Author: Dr. Cynthia Thaik is a Harvard-trained, renowned internist, cardiologist, and author who combines her training in Western medicine with evidence-based alternative therapies to treat the root causes of health issues, focusing on prevention. Founder of the Holistic Healing Heart Center, she is praised for her personalized care, using advanced cardiology tools, nutrition, and mindfulness practices, while attentively addressing patient concerns.