Fasting mimicking diet (ProLon) by Valter Longo, PhD

Interventions that promote longevity, remembered by mnemonic: DEEP purple - “eat colorful plant foods: Dietary modification, Exercise, active Engagement, Purposeful living (click here to enlarge the image).

Valter D. Longo (born October 9, 1967) is an Italian-American biogerontologist and cell biologist known for his studies on the role of fasting and nutrient response genes on cellular protection aging and diseases and for proposing that longevity is regulated by similar genes and mechanisms in many eukaryotes. He is currently a professor at the USC Davis School of Gerontology with a joint appointment in the department of Biological Sciences as well as serving as the director of the USC Longevity Institute. Dr Longo (PhD) is widely publsihed, he has more than 120 articles listed in PubMed as of 2019: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=Longo%20VD%5BAuthor%5D&cauthor=true&cauthor_uid=31442398

Valter Longo's longevity diet proposals relies on 2 major approaches:

1. Daily longevity diet, which is mostly plant-based with fish once to twice a week.

2. Episodic fasting mimicking diet, which is a 5-day low calorie diet. Fasting mimicking diet is used every 6 months to every 1 month based on the condition of the patient.

More details are available in the videos below and in Valter Longo's 2018 book, linked below.

Fasting mimicking diet (ProLon)

Valter Longo's fasting-mimicking diet (FMD) is a low-calorie, low-protein, low-carbohydrate, high-fat meal program that is claimed to mimic the effects of periodic fasting or water fasting over the course of five days, while still aiming to provide the body with nutrition. FMD is considered a periodic fast.[9]

Longo developed the diet at the University of Southern California. He believes that it is possible to mimic the effects of fasting with a meal program that is designed to inhibit the same metabolic pathways fasting would, thereby providing the body with nutrients that do not trigger the body’s growth responses (including stem cells).

Fasting mimicking diet is trademarked by L-Nutra, a company partially owned by Longo with financial interest by USC, though Longo does not receive any financial benefits from the company.

FMD application has been explored in patients with metabolic abnormalities, autoimmune disorders and cancers.

Here is a recent overview of the experience: https://www.technologyreview.com/s/614082/prolon-starvation-diet/

Mark Hyman, MD: The Secret Power of Fasting for Longevity and Healing, 2019:



References:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6528490/
https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/full/10.1161/CIRCRESAHA.118.313352?url_ver=Z39.88-2003&rfr_id=ori:rid:crossref.org&rfr_dat=cr_pub%3dpubmed
https://www.amazon.com/Longevity-Diet-Discover-Activation-Regeneration/dp/0525534075
https://prolonpro.com/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zz4ZzNik1Y4
https://www.technologyreview.com/s/614082/prolon-starvation-diet/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVArDzYynYc
https://www.bluezones.com/2016/04/fasting-for-longevity/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valter_Longo
https://gero.usc.edu/faculty/longo/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evGFWRXEzz8
https://www.kevinrose.com/post/valter-longo
https://www.statnews.com/2017/06/13/fasting-diet-valter-longo/
https://drhyman.com/blog/2019/04/10/podcast-ep48/
http://casesblog.blogspot.com/2018/12/exceptional-longevity-why-some-people.html
https://valterlongo.com/recipes-of-longevity/