Fasting Mimicking Diet

wabmester

Interesting research from the team that told us high-protein diets encourage cancer cell growth:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/science-news/11683736/Five-day-fasting-diet-slows-down-ageing-and-may-add-years-to-life.html

Day one of the diet comprises:
10 per cent protein, 56 per cent fat and 34 per cent carbohydrate, making 1,090 calories

Days two to five:
Nine per cent protein, 44 per cent fat and 47 per cent carbohydrate making 725 calories

When humans tested out the regimen, within three months they had reduced biomarkers linked to ageing, diabetes, cancer and heart disease as well as cutting overall body fat.

For 25 days a month, study participants went back to their regular eating habits -- good or bad They were not asked to change their diet and still saw positive changes.

Study

Edit: that translates to 85-92g of carbs, which they found to be quite ketogenic!

DianaElena76

Interesting!

Foamroller

I do believe that fasting once in a while is good for the body. But, IMO, the very low protein is a problem. It wouldn't fit my lifestyle and I don't want to get to a spindly 100 yrs old anyway.

I wonder if the anti-aging is more about the semi-fasting very low intake rather than very low proteins. Or a combo of both. I know plenty of vegetarians who are overweight or sick a lot. (possibly due to not enough complete protein or other deficiencies).

The maintenance plan for 5:2 fasting is actually 1:6, meaning 1 fast day/week. But with more protein.

wabmester

I think the low-protein is for the anti-cancer properties. Here's an article about their study on protein:
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/03/140308-high-protein-diet-low-protein-cancer-meat-health-food-science/

Interestingly, they found that a high-protein diet was beneficial for those in old age.

FIT_Goat

wabmester wrote: »

I think the low-protein is for the anti-cancer properties. Here's an article about their study on protein:
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/03/140308-high-protein-diet-low-protein-cancer-meat-health-food-science/

Interestingly, they found that a high-protein diet was beneficial for those in old age.

I read that actual study and a review of it at one point. The review was pretty scathing regarding the cherry-picking. Overall, protein had no effect on mortality or cancer incidence. It was only when you intentionally restricted it to that one subgroup of ages that it seemed to have a negative effect. I have to see if I can find the whole study again.

wabmester

The study is linked in the article above:
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S155041311400062X

IIRC, they looked at both epidemiological data and they tested their hypothesis about protein and IGF-1 on mice.

It makes sense. Reduce a growth factor, and reduce the spread of cancer.

FIT_Goat

http://angrynutrition.com/is-protein-bad-for-you-bad-science/

That is just one review of the science behind that study. Reading the study itself is also interesting. It reminds me of the chocolate increases weight loss study. If you look at enough associations, you will eventually find something you can claim is significant.

Also, wasn't this study based on a single day of dietary self-reporting . . . which was then assumed to represent their diet over the entire period of time? Which is a notably horrible way to collect data to draw conclusions from.

This is the better review: http://jasoncholewa.com/2014/03/05/high-protein-diets-cause-cancer-study-says/

wabmester

Epidemiological studies are only useful for generating hypotheses, which is what they did. Mouse studies confirmed and now they're doing human studies including the one in the OP.

My take away is that growth is good when you're a kid, otherwise not so much.