How I discovered fasting, and the amazing benefits it can offer!

Periodic fasting, a water fast for 4 days, or the fasting mimicking diet for 5, has been shown to have a large variety of benefits – lowered inflammation, improved blood pressure and lipids, increased brain growth factors, decreased visceral (belly) fat, among others.

Among the additional benefits of a fasting mimicking diet, is preserving lean body mass and other vital structures, while making the process of fasting a whole lot more palatable. apply to the fasting mimicking diet The fasting mimicking diet was developed at the Longevity Institute at the University of Southern California.

For those who have never tried water fasting, I can share that not eating food for several days isn’t easy, nor is it fun. Doing the fasting mimicking diet is enormously easier, and actually far safer! It’s what I personally have done 11 times to date, will continue to do, and the fasting program I implement in my practice.

The story of how I became an expert in fasting dates back just a few short years. I had the immense pleasure and privilege to oversee the initiation and implementation – in a real life setting – of the one and only fasting mimicking diet, which was named ProLon – for Promoting Longevity. Since then, I have been officially named a medical advisor for the company, which was spawned from the research of Professor Valter Longo.

My medical practice was selected to host the inauguration of ProLon outside of a formal study setting, as up to then, it had only been used as part of research conducted at the Longevity Institute. The fantastic experience of observing and learning from my own patients proved exceptionally eye-opening.

The patients taught me about the challenges they faced when eating a comparatively small amount of food for five days, particularly when sugar and processed foods made up the bulk of their diets. As my diet included none of that sort of food, I didn’t experience any difficulties at all.

Most importantly, I became aware of the immense boost to self esteem they experienced after successfully completing the 5 days of the fasting mimicking diet. They demonstrated a renewed belief in themselves – as they realized that nothing was impossible – they could now adhere to a comprehensive new lifestyle, one commensurate with optimizing their odds of a long health span.

This unexpected benefit to fasting, the renewed strength and conviction to regain health and modify lifestyle choices, was inspiring to me! I saw people who felt hopeless that they would never lower their blood pressures without drugs, see improvement in their glucose regulation, lose weight, and feel more energetic. Their brain fog lifted, and they completely changed their lives and their view of themselves.

They went from severely hopeless to brightly optimistic, and this new vision of themselves persisted and grew more powerful with each use of the fasting mimicking diet, ProLon.

Nothing I’ve ever utilized in my practice has had such an uplifting effect on motivation and self esteem. As success breeds even more self confidence and yet more success, happiness is the ultimate and wonderful consequence. This newly acquired happiness then leads to reduced stress and inflammation, along with improved sleep and gut health.

This has been a wonderful and incredibly surprising turn of events. The joy of success creates an aura of self love and pride – clearly about the best of the unexpected benefits of fasting and of the fasting mimicking diet. This benefit sets the stage for healthy choices for a lifetime, each and every day – promoting a life of happiness and well-being.