The Creator of the ProLon Diet Says the Secret to Weight Loss Is "Fasting Mimicking" – GoodHousekeeping.com

Posted: Published on November 15th, 2019

This post was added by Alex Diaz-Granados

The idea of intermittent fasting to aid in weight loss has become more and more popular over the years. And while it may seem like the trendy ProLon Fasting Mimicking Diet is similar to intermittent fasting, it's actually quite different. If you've been thinking about trying the Prolon Diet, as it's more commonly known, here's everything you need to know.

People buy the five-day ProLon Diet Fasting Mimicking meal-plan kit, which was developed by Valter Longo, Ph.D., a researcher and biologist at the University of Southern California-Davis, either from the company (L-Nutra) itself, or from a healthcare provider, and follow the instructions about what to eat when. According to the companys website, any licensed health care provider such as [a] medical doctor, doctor of osteopathy, podiatrist, dentist, chiropractor, clinical psychologist, optometrist, nurse practitioner, nurse-midwife, or a clinical social worker can register with ProLon and then approve their patients or consumers to purchase ProLon. (Yes, a little strange, but true: An eye doctor, foot doctor, or dentist can hook you up.)

Longos goal in developing the ProLon Diet was to give people the health benefits of fasting while letting them still eat at least some food and that way, he theorized, they can restrict calories for a longer period of time (meaning that five-day period). The ProLon Diet is low in calories, protein, and carbs, and high in healthy fats. Its supposed to trick your body into thinking its fasting while actually providing some nutrients.

The ProLon Fasting Mimicking Diet Plan is expensive: The five-day, boxed meal kit costs $249 from the website ($225 each if you order three boxes at once). The cost may be different when ordered directly from a doctor theres no way for us to gauge that. Considering what you actually get to eat each day (more on that below), thats not a lot of food for what youre paying, as much as $50/day.

Under the plan, people do the five-day ProLon Diet once a month; the companys suggestion is that the users consult with their doctor after the first month to see if they should do it again the next month (up to three consecutive months, the company suggests).

With some variation, depending on the day, a typical day's food would include a nutty bar for breakfast, a dried-veggie soup packet for lunch, kale crackers or five olives as a snack, a somewhat heartier soup packet (say, with quinoa) for dinner, and a bar for dessert. Plus, a cup of herbal tea, some supplements, and depending on the day, an energy drink (water + vegetable glycerin). On Day 1 you get the most calories, about 1,100. On Days 2-5, its about 700-800 cals.

Preliminary research has shown that intermittent fasting (such as the 16/8 method, where eating is restricted to an eight hour period during the day, with 16 hours of fasting) may help those with type 2 diabetes improve their glucose levels and lose weight. And other research has found that intermittent fasting may also reduce certain markers of inflammation.

Various studies of different types of fasting (some of the studies were small; one was of a specific population and possibly doesn't apply to everyone; one was on very obese individuals) showed improvements in heart disease risks, including weight loss, better cholesterol numbers, and a smaller waist circumference.

Valter Longo has led one study of 100 people who did three rounds of the fasting mimicking and found that they dropped an average of six pounds and decreased their belly fat; their blood sugar and cholesterol levels improved as well. More independent studies are needed to confirm these findings. Whether the fasting mimicking diet is better for weight loss or gives more health benefits than other types of fasting/intermittent fasting diets hasn't been studied, so there's no evidence proving that one way or the other.

The companys website says that the ProLon Diet shouldnt be used by people taking insulin or other glucose-lowering drug (e.g., those with diabetes) or who have significant cardiac disease. Its also not recommended for women who are pregnant or nursing, anyone allergic to nuts or soy, and individuals diagnosed with serious medical condition or disease unless its okayed by a physician who is trained to treat that condition.

Visit link:

The Creator of the ProLon Diet Says the Secret to Weight Loss Is "Fasting Mimicking" - GoodHousekeeping.com

Related Posts
This entry was posted in Cardiac Nursing. Bookmark the permalink.

Comments are closed.