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Home » Diet » Kale crackers and hibiscus tea: My five days on a ‘fasting diet’ – STAT

L

OS ANGELES The box is lovely, sleek and white. But its so small.

Ive decided to try the ProLon diet five days of mimicking fasting that is supposed to help me lose weight, trim belly fat, drop my cholesterol and glucose levels into healthier zones, and even slow aging. Ive been researching the science behind fasting check out my full story on that topic here so Im excited to try it myself.

But the box is so small. Not much larger than a shoebox, it contains all the food and drink, other than water, that Ill get for five days. I sift through the futuristic-looking and tiny packets of olives and freeze-dried soups, kale chips, and nut bars. I love food so much. Im a little bit worried.

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The diet consists of an ultra-low-calorie blend of proteins, carbohydrates, fats, and nutrients thats meant to trick the body into thinking it is fasting, but with less discomfort or risk than a true water-only fast. Thats according to its inventor, biochemist Valter Longo, the director of the Longevity Institute at the University of Southern California.

Hes launcheda company, L-Nutra, to market the diet; its sold for $300 per box or $750 for three boxes, if youre inclined to repeat the five-day fast every few months. (L-Nutra provided one box to STAT at nocost.)

He wants to sell you a $300 fasting diet to prolong your life. It might not be as crazy as it sounds

Fasting, Longo says, pushes the body to burn fat, rejuvenates cells, and lowers risk factors for a host of diseases. Ive read the scientific studies and theres ample evidence that fasting can have great benefit for research animals, such as the mice in Longos lab.

The evidence for human benefits, though, is more speculative. Short-term studies have shown that fasting can improve certain data points in human subjects (such as lowering cholesterol levels), but theres no proof yet that such improvements are sustained in the long run or that theyll lead to clinical benefits such as fewer heart attacks or longer lives.

Theres also no proof that Longos particular blend of foods works any better than any other low-calorie diet or intermittent fasting regime.

So Im going into this armed with skepticism but also, a great deal of curiosity. A 40-something mother of two, Im not technically overweight but a good 15 or 20 pounds over my ideal weight. I want to know what effect the dietwill have on my health.

Also, whether Ill have the willpower to stick with it.

Most people can choose any five-day period for the diet, so they can avoid big social events or strenuous athletic activities. But I need to diet on five specific days because Im taking blood tests immediately before and after to gauge how the diet affects my body. (I get the tests done at USC, so Longo can pull the results, but STAT pays for the lab work.) Because of poor planning on my part, the first day of my fast falls on Mothers Day.

I love food so much. And the box containing my diet for the next week is so small. Im a little bit worried.

So the one day of the year I normally get breakfast in bed, I get nothing. Which makes me grumpy. I make myself a cup of spearmint tea. My breakfast will be an L-Bar a 280-calorie nut-based bar. Since were going on a hike, I decide to wait to eat the bar in case I get hungry while were out. Its not a great start.

I open the bar mid-morning, while hiking. It is delicious. A blend of macadamia nut butter, almond meal, and coconut, it tastes like a dessert. I eat half, slowly, and save the rest for later.

I am getting grumpier. I am also starting to get a bad headache. I think its because I havent had any caffeine, but USC research nutritionist Mahshid Shelehchi, who is supervising my fast, tells me that its normal to get a headache while fasting. Even non-coffee drinkers get them.

Lunch is tomato soup that I microwave, olives, and kale-and-seed crackers with a kick of pepper. It all tastes pretty great. My afternoon snack is another nut bar I could get used to these, I think and spearmint lemon tea. Dinner is another freeze-dried soup, minestrone. I deeply resent the 120-calorie soup as I cook it. This is not the Mothers Day dinner of my dreams. At least I get dessert a Choco Crisp Bar thats delicious. All four bites of it.

With my headache roaring, I decide to turn in earlier than usual.

I am getting grumpier. I am also starting to get a bad headache.

The first days diet contained 1,150 calories. It was hard, but not impossible. Tomorrow I have to drop to 800 calories. Im not sure Ill make it.

The 800-calorie days all include a bonus: A glycerol solution you mix with water that serves as an energy drink to help you get through the day. I flavor mine, as advised, with a sachet of hibiscus tea from the box. Its crazy bright pink but because it staves off hunger, I can tell it is going to become my best friend.

I drink my spearmint tea, trying hard not to look at my cappuccino machine, which seems to beckon me from across my kitchen. Being Californian, I also really want my avocado toast. Instead, I unwrap a nut bar.

Then its off to USC, where I have a busy day visiting Longos lab. I end up staying a long time so I dont even get to eat my lunch of mushroom soup and olives until about 3. I feel OK, considering. When I realize I get olives with my afternoon tea also, Im thrilled. It seems like a bounty.

My entire family is obsessed with my fasting diet and not all that helpful.

My son asks: Will you poo? (Constipation is a side effect; I survived.)

Could your diet one day be tailored to your biology?

My husband decides to make his childhood favorite meal for dinner sloppy Joes. While I eat my Quinoa Mix Soup, my family raves about how good their sloppy Joes are. These are so good, they could be served in the finest restaurants of Barcelona, my husband says. I am sad.

I do get a Choco Crisp Bar for dessert. And I dont even miss having wine with dinner. I crawl into bed early, with laptop, and start devouring episodes of Queen of the South. Thank you, Netflix, for giving me something to binge on.

Tuesday is my hungriest day. There is no afternoon snack, no ChocoCrisp Bar. Just one nut bar, tomato soup, kale crackers, minestrone soup, and the energy drink, which I carry everywhere like a security blanket.

I need to finish up an article and I feel a little dopey, so I admit to the scientist Im interviewing that Im on a fasting diet. Shes intrigued and wants to know all about the biochemistry behind it. Everyone, actually, wants to know about this crazy diet Im on.

Wednesday, I have a busy day shadowing several groups of elementary school kids for another story Im writing. Its a lot of walking, for hours, and I have to occasionally sit and rest in the shade. I wonder if this is what it feels like to be old. Shelehchi advised me that I might not want to drive while fasting, for safety, but between work and my kids many activities, thats just impossible. I do skip my exercise classes.

Its a lot of walking, and I occasionally have to stop and rest. I wonder if this is what it feels like to be old.

On Wednesday night, my husband has a work dinner that happens to be at my favorite restaurant. (Im mad and jealous.) So I have to shop and cook for thekids. Im worried about going into a grocery store while fasting, so I steel myself out in the Trader Joes parking lot. I take several gulps of energy drink and walk in the store.

Its actually not that hard. I look at the food the shrink-wrapped meats, the frozen pizzas laden with cheese and it all looks kind of disgusting. I dont want to eat any of it.

I could maybe use an extra nut bar, but Im OK with my soup. And my Choco Crisp Bar.

Cooking dinner for my kids is a breeze. I dont feel hungry anymore. I kind of love having all my meals planned out for me and so easy to prepare. I even feel a little spoiled. Best of all, my headache has disappeared. I thought I would miss normal food and wine with dinner. (No alcohol is allowed on the diet.) But what I miss most, still, is coffee.

Thursday is easy. I have a lot of energy, which Shelehchi says tends to happen after the initial fasting days. She even does her kickboxing classes while shes on the fast. (Initially unconvinced by the diet, she came around after seeing data from the studies she helps Longo run and now uses the diet several times a year.)

I run some errands and end up staring at a man eating Mexican food out of a styrofoam container. I want to grab his food. Maybe its time to return to the world of the eating.

Seeking an alternative to medication, parents tinker with diet to treat ADHD

I cant eat Friday until after my follow-up blood test in the morning, but its not food I care most about. Im plottinghow to get my cappuccino as soon as possible after my blood is drawn.

Youd think I would want to binge on food after doing the diet, but the coffee is enough. Which is good, because Longo advises transitioning your stomach back to normal food with soups, juices, and light meals on the first day after the diet.

After the blood draw, I sit and chat with Shelehchi at a coffee shop near the clinic. Ive lost nearly 4pounds. I feel great. Shelehchi is not surprised. She says my body is now in ketosis, or fat-burning mode, and I should still keep seeing benefits for several days during refeeding.

I kind of love having all my meals planned out for me and so easy to prepare. I even feel a little spoiled.

I tell her one benefit of the diet is that I realize I can eat a lot less food than I do that right now, much smaller portion sizes and light soups for lunch seem a really easy way to keep losing weight. Its a common side effect of the diet, she says, adding: It makes you think about every single thing you put in your mouth. She said many women (like me) who carry extra fat they never lost after pregnancy are able to lose it using this diet.

I knew my cholesterol was on the high side going into the diet Id recently had a physical and hadelevated cholesterol for the first time in my life. My doctor said it was probably due to the high-protein diet I had been trying, and Longo agreed. Its the worst idea, he said. The absolute worst.

So, when Longo calls later with my blood test results, Im delighted to hear that my overall cholesterol and my LDL, or bad, cholesterol dropped during the five days of the diet, though my triglycerides didnt. I also saw big improvement in my levels of IGF-1, or insulin-like growth factor-1, which is linked to higher rates of cancer. (Longo says mine might have been elevated originally because of that high-protein diet.) Its not clear if lowering IGF-1 translates into better health or longevity, but it cant hurt.

Im a cynical journalist and Im known to be skeptical especially about faddish health food claims, heavy marketing, and quick fixes. But this diet seems to have worked for me in the short-term. Nearly one month after ending the diet, Im still eating much smaller portions, many of them plant-based, and limiting my protein intake. Ive lost threeadditional pounds.

And Im still savoring every cup of coffee.

Usha Lee McFarling can be reached at ushalee.mcfarling@statnews.com Follow Usha Lee on Twitter @ushamcfarling

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Kale crackers and hibiscus tea: My five days on a 'fasting diet' - STAT

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Home » Diet » Kale crackers and hibiscus tea: My five days on a ‘fasting diet’ – STAT