Health buffs may want to try a new diet that mimics fasting because according to a new study, this new five-day, once-a-month diet is safe and effective in promoting weight loss and health.
Fasting has long been acclaimed as an effective means to lose weight and improve over-all health. However, some doctors do not recommend it because of the dangers of starving one's self once the diet goes out of hand, reports Washington Post.
However, in the study that was published in the journal Cell Metabolism, the researchers enrolled participants and they were intermittently fasted for three months. They found out that the results were remarkably promising. The participants showed reduced risk for a wide array of conditions including aging, cancer, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease.
The study was funded by the National Institute of Aging. There were 19 participants who were allowed to join the study. Due to the promising results, the researcher from the University of Southern California is now trying to gain the approval of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration so this regimen could be recommended to patients by their physicians.
According to Valter D. Longo, co-author of the study, "It's about reprogramming the body so it enters a slower aging mode, but also rejuvenating it. It's not a typical diet because it isn't something you need to stay on."
This diet will help reboot the body by removing damaged cells and promotes regenerating new ones that will eventually delay the aging process. Now, the diet they are promoting is termed as "Fasting Mimicing Diet" and it entails a new way to live life without too much dieting, DNA India reports.
For the diet, it will last for 25 days of the month. The person can eat normally which is the good side of the diet. However, for one day of the diet, they would eat 1,090 calories containing 10 percent protein, 56 percent fat and 34 percent carbohydrates. However, for two fays through five, they would consume 725 calories containing 9 percent protein, 44 percent fat and 47 percent carbohydrates.