Engage in periodic prolonged fasting or a fasting-mimicking diet (FMD) for at least two days or longer, cycling it to achieve a systemic multi-tissue reset. This approach helps achieve benefits of caloric restriction without chronic deficits, promoting a breakdown and rebuilding process that rejuvenates cells and systems.
For general health maintenance, perform a 5-day fasting-mimicking diet cycle approximately once every four months. Individuals with an excellent diet and active lifestyle may only need to do it once or twice a year.
If you are obese or have multiple disease risk factors (e.g., high cholesterol, triglycerides, fasting glucose, blood pressure, CRP), consider doing a 5-day fasting-mimicking diet cycle once a month. This can help reset elevated biomarkers back to normal ranges.
Utilize the fasting-mimicking diet to preferentially lose visceral fat, which is linked to various health problems, while maintaining or restoring lean body mass. The temporary muscle loss during the fast is rebuilt during refeeding, and metabolism may speed up.
During the refeeding phase after a prolonged fast or fasting-mimicking diet, ensure adequate protein intake. This is crucial to provide the necessary ‘bricks’ for rebuilding partially broken-down systems and to drive growth signals like IGF-1 for stem cell proliferation and differentiation.
If you have cancer and cannot wait for clinical trials, discuss with your oncologist the possibility of incorporating a fasting-mimicking diet alongside standard-of-care treatments. This experimental approach may sensitize cancer cells to stress while protecting healthy cells, but must be done under medical supervision.
Explore the use of periodic prolonged fasting or a fasting-mimicking diet as a potential tool against autoimmunity. This process may lead to the renewal of immune cells to a naive, non-autoimmune state, potentially reducing disease severity.
For aggressive cancers like gliomas, consider an experimental approach combining periodic fasting-mimicking diet, a ketogenic diet, and conventional treatments (chemotherapy, radiotherapy), under strict medical guidance. Early anecdotal evidence suggests this combination is promising.
Recognize that short fasts (e.g., one day) may not be sufficient to achieve the profound cellular reset effects of periodic prolonged fasting or the fasting-mimicking diet. Longer durations are needed for adequate glycogen depletion and ketogenesis.
To chronically lower IGF-1 levels, restrict protein intake, particularly essential amino acids like methionine and cysteine. High protein can prevent IGF-1 reduction even with overall caloric restriction.
Ask your doctor to measure biomarkers such as IGF-1, insulin, glucose, systemic inflammation (CRP), triglycerides, and blood pressure to assess your biological age and disease risk. Aim to keep these markers in the ideal range.
Base your everyday diet decisions on five pillars: epidemiological studies, centenarian studies, basic longevity research, clinical studies, and complex systems analysis. This holistic approach helps inform a diet promoting long-term health.
Be cautious about adopting diets, such as the ketogenic diet, that are not commonly observed in populations with record longevity. The absence of such diets in centenarian groups may indicate potential long-term safety concerns or lack of proven longevity benefits.