# Fasting Mimicking Diet Cycles, Regeneration, Biological Age, and Disease

**Authors:** Valter Longo

PMC · DOI: 10.1093/geroni/igaf122.1389 · Innovation in Aging · 2025-12-31

## TL;DR

Fasting mimicking diets may improve health and reduce age-related diseases by promoting regeneration and reversing conditions like diabetes and hypertension.

## Contribution

The paper presents clinical evidence that FMD cycles improve healthspan and reverse diseases in humans, with effects beyond weight loss.

## Key findings

- FMD cycles reverse insulin resistance and promote diabetes regression.
- FMD cycles improve response to autoimmune disease drugs and reverse chemosensory dysfunction.
- Three FMD cycles reduced biological age by 2.5 years in clinical trials.

## Abstract

Fasting mimicking diets (FMDs) are low calorie and protein and high fat compositions lasting 4-7 days emerging as periodic dietary interventions with the potential to improve healthspan and decrease the incidence of age-related diseases. In animal studies, FMD cycles promote stem cell activation, cellular reprogramming and autophagy leading to longevity extension but also to the regression of multiple diseases and conditions. Recent randomized clinical studies consistently indicate that FMD cycles reverse insulin resistance and promote pre-diabetes and diabetes regression and result in lower diabetes and hypertension drug use by a mechanisms not correlated with weight loss. The latest studies indicate that FMD cycles can improve clinical response to autoimmune disease drugs and reverse chemosensory dysfunction raising the possibility that the multi-system regenerative effects demonstrated in mice and rats are conserved in humans, as also supported by a 2.5 years of biological age reduction associated with 3 FMD cycles in 2 different clinical trials.

## Linked entities

- **Diseases:** diabetes (MONDO:0005015), autoimmune disease (MONDO:0007179)
- **Species:** Mus musculus (taxon 10090), Rattus norvegicus (taxon 10116), Homo sapiens (taxon 9606)

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Source: https://tomesphere.com/paper/PMC12763742