Fasting-mimicking diet causes hepatic and blood markers changes indicating reduced biological age and disease risk.
Level 2 - randomized trial
Secondary and exploratory analysis of randomized clinical trial data
PubMed 38378685 · doi:10.1038/s41467-024-45260-9
What was done
Researchers conducted secondary and exploratory analyses of blood samples and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data from adult participants undergoing 3 cycles of a fasting-mimicking diet (FMD) within a randomized clinical trial (NCT02158897). Results were also evaluated in a second clinical study (NCT04150159). Evaluated endpoints included insulin resistance and pre-diabetes markers, hepatic fat content, lymphoid-to-myeloid ratio, and a validated biomarker-based score of biological age.
What was found
Three cycles of FMD were associated with reductions in insulin resistance and other pre-diabetes markers, decreased hepatic fat on MRI, and an increased lymphoid-to-myeloid ratio. FMD cycles were associated with a 2.5-year decrease in median biological age, which occurred independently of weight loss. Findings were reported as nearly identical in the second clinical study. Specific numerical values for metabolic and immune markers are not reported in the abstract.
Why it matters
These findings suggest that periodic fasting-mimicking dietary cycles may improve cardiometabolic risk profiles, lower liver fat, and favorably shift blood-based markers of biological and immune aging in humans without continuous caloric restriction.
Limits
Sample size, participant baseline characteristics, and exact effect sizes for metabolic markers are omitted from the abstract. Because the findings stem from secondary and exploratory analyses using surrogate biomarker algorithms of biological age, long-term impacts on hard clinical outcomes and disease incidence remain unproven.