
Five-Day Fasting Diet Could Fight Disease, Slow Aging - M_Grey
http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/02/five-day-fasting-diet-could-fight-disease-slow-aging
======
gwern
The preliminary human trial and the animal experiments have been discussed on
HN before:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9741137](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9741137)
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8831739](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8831739)

Fulltext:
[https://www.dropbox.com/s/ajmrgno9b38ncgi/2017-wei.pdf](https://www.dropbox.com/s/ajmrgno9b38ncgi/2017-wei.pdf)

"Fasting-mimicking diet and markers/risk factors for aging, diabetes, cancer,
and cardiovascular disease", Wei et al 2017:

"Calorie restriction or changes in dietary composition can enhance healthy
aging, but the inability of most subjects to adhere to chronic and extreme
diets, as well as potentially adverse effects, limits their application. We
randomized 100 generally healthy participants from the United States into two
study arms and tested the effects of a fasting-mimicking diet (FMD)—low in
calories, sugars, and protein but high in unsaturated fats—on markers/risk
factors associated with aging and age-related diseases. We compared subjects
who followed 3 months of an unrestricted diet to subjects who consumed the FMD
for 5 consecutive days per month for 3 months. Three FMD cycles reduced body
weight, trunk, and total body fat; lowered blood pressure; and decreased
insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1). No serious adverse effects were
reported. After 3 months, control diet subjects were crossed over to the FMD
program, resulting in a total of 71 subjects completing three FMD cycles. A
post hoc analysis of subjects from both FMD arms showed that body mass index,
blood pressure, fasting glucose, IGF-1, triglycerides, total and low-density
lipoprotein cholesterol, and C-reactive protein were more beneficially
affected in participants at risk for disease than in subjects who were not at
risk. Thus, cycles of a 5-day FMD are safe, feasible, and effective in
reducing markers/risk factors for aging and age-related diseases. Larger
studies in patients with diagnosed diseases or selected on the basis of risk
factors are warranted to confirm the effect of the FMD on disease prevention
and treatment."

~~~
DrScump
"Calorie restriction or changes in dietary composition can enhance healthy
aging, but the inability of most subjects to adhere to chronic and extreme
diets, as well as potentially adverse effects, limits their application."

Well, obviously, when they call fasting / keto / etc. "chronic and extreme"
within earshot of potential subjects, and use scary warnings, compliance will
suffer.

Other result of note: _" No serious adverse effects were reported."_

------
qrbLPHiKpiux
Dieting is hard because of the abundance of food.

~~~
M_Grey
I've found that learning about food helps somewhat. When you learn that, for
example, your favorite candy bar's filling is essentially whipped vegetable
oil and sugar, it's a lot easier to pass on it.

