Fasting-mimicking diet and markers/risk factors for aging, diabetes, cancer, and cardiovascular disease
Sci Transl Med, 2017. Wei M, et al.
Funding and competing interests (as published with the paper): Competing interests: The experimental FMD was provided by L-Nutra Inc. The funding sources had no involvement in study design; collection, analysis, and interpretation of data; writing of the report; or decision to submit the article for publication. The USC has licensed intellectual property to L-Nutra that is under study in this research. As part of this license agreement, the University has the potential to receive royalty payments from L-Nutra. V.D.L. and T.E.M., who have equity interest in L-Nutra, did not participate in the collection and analysis of the data. One-hundred percent of V.D.L.’s equity will be assigned to the nonprofit foundation Create Cures. U.S. patents 20140227373A1 (“Methods and diets to protect against chemotoxicity and age related illnesses”) and 20140112909A1 (“Methods and formulations promoting tissue regeneration, longevity and healthspan”) related to the work described here have been filed.
- Study type
- Human clinical trial (randomized, n=100)
- Journal
- Sci Transl Med
- Published
- 2017
- Authors
- Wei M, et al.
- DOI
- 10.1126/scitranslmed.aai8700
- PubMed ID
- 28202779
Summary
In this randomized trial, 100 generally healthy adults in the United States were assigned to three months of their usual diet or to three monthly 5-day cycles of a Fasting Mimicking Diet (FMD) that is low in calories, sugar and protein and high in unsaturated fat. After three months, the diet-only group crossed over to the FMD, giving 71 participants who completed three cycles.
The authors reported that three consecutive monthly FMD cycles reduced body weight, trunk and total body fat, blood pressure, and IGF-1 (a hormone linked to aging), with no serious adverse effects. In a further analysis of participants classified as at risk for disease, markers including BMI, blood pressure, fasting glucose, IGF-1, triglycerides, cholesterol and C-reactive protein moved in a more favorable direction than in those not at risk.
This is a human randomized trial, but the authors describe the at-risk subgroup findings as a post hoc analysis and call for larger trials in people with diagnosed disease before drawing conclusions about disease prevention or treatment.
A randomized trial in 100 generally healthy adults. Findings for participants at risk for disease come from a post hoc analysis.
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