5 days a month for 3 months will cause you a collection of beneficial changes in the body/ShutterStock
A diet that mimics the beneficial effect of fasting, without starving yourself, can extend your life by at least two and a half years, according to a new study published this week in Nature Communications.
The researchers found that people who followed a diet that mimicked fasting for 15 days reduced their biological age by more than two years on average.
And not only that - the study participants showed a significant reduction in the risk of diabetes, heart disease and stroke, based on biological markers in their blood.
The diet involves eating less than 1,000 calories, and consists of low-fat foods, soups, energy drinks and supplements.
In fact, this diet makes the body think it is fasting, which causes the release of enzymes and other chemicals in the body that are related to longevity.
As part of the study, the participants' diet consisted of plant-based soups, energy bars, energy drinks, chips and tea for five days, as well as a supplement that provides high levels of minerals, vitamins and essential fatty acids.
The diet during the five days of the diet includes a variety of soups, alongside other foods/Daniel Bass
Professor Walter Longo, a biologist at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, who developed the diet and headed the study, said: "This is the first study to show that a food-based intervention, which does not require chronic changes in diet or lifestyle, can make you biologically younger."
The diet in the study consisted of three cycles of five days each (5 days each month).
On the first day, the participants ate food totaling 1,100 calories.
Starting from the second to the fifth day, the consumption dropped to 720 calories each day.
The diet consists of 34 percent carbohydrates, 10 percent protein, and 56 percent fat on the first day, followed by seven percent carbohydrates, nine percent protein, and 44 percent fat on the remaining days.
On the other 25 days of the month, the participants ate their normal diet.
As mentioned, three such cycles were carried out in a period of three months.
After three months, the researchers analyzed the participants' blood samples.
The results showed that study participants who followed the diet had lower risk factors for diabetes, including less insulin resistance and lower blood sugar levels.
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Further analyzes of the tests showed that the study participants lowered their biological age by 2.5 years on average.
The chronological age is the numerical age, how many years have you lived.
The biological age indicates the age, as reflected in the condition of the cells and tissues in the body.
This is a significant index because it shows how susceptible a person may be to diseases.
MRI scans of the subjects also showed a decrease in abdominal fat and liver fat, which are associated with a reduced risk of metabolic syndrome, which increases the risk of heart disease, stroke and diabetes.
In addition, an increase in the lymphoid-myeloid ratio of the study participants was found, which is an indicator of a younger immune system.
Previous studies have shown that this type of diet can even lower cancer risk factors.
Researchers believe that this diet has a rejuvenating effect on the immune system.
According to the researchers, this diet also switches cells throughout the body to a protected 'anti-aging state' - an effect that lasts far beyond the diet period itself.
This diet actually mimics the beneficial results of a water-only fast, with the big difference - that with this method you do eat.
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