The idea of a fast mimicking diet, developed by Valter Longo and his colleagues, has been clinically proven to provide many of the same benefits of a water fast, without requiring participants to abstain from food entirely.
The diet has been clinically tested and commercialized by a company called L-Nutra, with the goal to take this from a fringe idea, to something that can be used in many different clinical settings.
Their product is called ProLon, and for safety and efficacy reasons they strongly recommend not to make a “homemade” version of this diet, which could be ineffective and potentially harmful.
I 100% agree with their cautionary stance, because there are many situations in which a fast mimicking diet could be dangerous – and below we’ll discuss these situations more.
I would re-iterate L-Nutra’s warning by requesting readers exercise extreme caution around a DIY fast mimicking diet, and if they are going to do it, they read this article completely (or Chapter 6 of Valter’s book The Longevity Diet), and ensure they fully understand the risks. Including whether or not they’re in an “at risk” category (such as those with diabetes or those taking blood pressure medications).
That being said, there are a number of reasons that someone may wish to create their own version, including:
- You live in a geographic location that ProLon does not ship to. Which is a large chunk of the world.
- You’ve done the ProLon diet once or twice previously, and for your next one, would like to customize the foods you consume. Perhaps moving towards fresh, home-made ingredients, rather than long life packets.
- You do not like, or your body does not agree with certain ingredients of the ProLon diet.
- You would like to use ProLon, but cannot due to financial constraints.
In Valter’s book The Longevity Diet, he appears to recognise that some people will still end up doing a DIY fast mimicking diet, despite the warnings and concern. Thus he dedicates a chapter to explaining the details of what a DIY fast mimicking diet would look like, and who would be at risk, and what some of the risks are (discussed below).
In that vein, this post is a continuation of that discussion Valter himself started, and hopefully fills in some blanks.
The ProLon Box
Personally I’ve done both – the ProLon box and a DIY fast mimicking diet. Drawing on both experiences, I was pleasantly surprised at how well thought out ProLon is, and I would absolutely recommend it for people starting off. Key reasons being:
- The exact calorie and macro compositions are laid out for you, thus if you only eat what’s provided, you will 100% stay on target to reap the health benefits. Minimizing temptations to “eat a bit much” of something.
- There’s no time/energy spent preparing foods, and all ingredients can be easily thrown in your bag for the days activities. Bare in mind for the soups that you will need access to a hot water source (worst case you could pack Thermos).
- Given the extremely low calorie content (compared to what we’re used to), the foods are actually tasty, and relatively filling.
- It gives you a solid idea of what to expect if you later want to create your own.
DIY Fast Mimicking Diet
However, (as discussed above) there are multiple reasons why one might opt for a do-it-yourself fast mimicking diet. Thus you’ll need to know the macronutrient and caloric restrictions in order to emulate it.
The “original” 2015 Cell Metabolism paper that described the diet quoted the composition as:
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To quote the specific section in the paper:
“The human fasting mimicking diet (FMD) program is a plant-based diet program designed to attain fasting-like effects while providing micronutrient nourishment (vitamins, minerals, etc.) and minimize the burden of fasting. It comprises proprietary vegetable-based soups, energy bars, energy drinks, chip snacks, chamomile flower tea, and a vegetable supplement formula tablet. The human FMD diet consists of a 5 day regimen: day 1 of the diet supplies $1,090 kcal (10% protein, 56% fat, 34% carbohydrate), days 2–5 are identical in formulation and provide 725 kcal (9% protein, 44% fat, 47% carbohydrate).”
Then in Valter’s book ‘The Longevity Diet’, he goes into more detail for how to perform a fast mimicking diet:
Day 1
1,100 calories total
Which includes:
- 500 calories from complex carbohydrates (vegetables such as broccoli, tomatoes, carrots, pumpkin, mushrooms, etc.)
- 500 calories from healthy fats (nuts, olive oil)
- 1 multivitamin and mineral supplement
- 1 omega-3/omega-6 supplement
- Sugarless tea (up to 3 to 4 cups per day)
- 25 grams total of plant-based protein, mainly from nuts (this is included within the 1,100 calorie total, rather than in addition)
- Unlimited water
N.B. The total calorie limit is 1,100 – with 500 coming from complex carbs, and 500 from healthy fats. That leaves 100 calories that could come from things like fruit or legumes. You have more freedom with that last 100 calories!
Days 2-5
800 calories total
- 400 calories from complex carbohydrates (vegetables such as broccoli, tomatoes, carrots, pumpkin, mushrooms etc.)
- 400 calories from healthy fats (nuts, olive oil)
- 1 multivitamin and mineral supplement
- 1 omega-3/omega-6 supplement
- Sugarless tea (up to 3 to 4 cups per day)
- Unlimited water
Meals on days 1 to 5 can be taken as a breakfast, lunch and dinner, or, taken as 2 meals + a snack.
Day 6 – Transition Diet
For 24 hours following the end of the five-day fast mimicking diet, patients should follow a diet based on:
- Complex carbohydrates (vegetables, cereals, pasta, rice, bread, fruit, etc.)
Minimizing consumption of:
- Fish, meat, saturated fats, pastries, cheeses, milk, etc.
This is to give the stomach a chance to adjust again to eating normally.
*From personal experience I can say that over eating after the fast can lead to stomach distress (!). You want to avoid overburdening the stomach for the next 2 days (6 & 7) following the fast – easier said than done when you’ve been starving!
As you can see from Valter’s description of the diet, he has simplified it a bit from the highly prescriptive 2015 Cell Metabolism paper. However, it retains the same basic key hallmarks. 100% plant based, and 1100 calories day 1, and 800 calories on days 2-5 (slightly up from the 725 calories in the study).
Valter also goes on to give specific guidelines around safety for the fast mimicking diet – which I’ve laid out below, in the faith that Valter would want these safety aspects communicated unedited.
Who may do the Fast Mimicking Diet?
Healthy adults in the normal weight range between the ages of eighteen and seventy years may undertake the fast mimicking diet. A few genetic mutations, however, are incompatible with long-term fasting. If any side effects occur other than slight weakness, tiredness, or a headache, you should contact your doctor. Drink a small quantity of fruit juice for immediate relief.
How often to do the Fast Mimicking Diet?
This is a decision that ideally should be made with input from a doctor or registered dietitian, but broad guidelines are as follows:
- 1x 6 months = For healthy patients with ideal diet who engage in regular physical activity
- 1x every 4 months = For healthy patients with a normal diet who are not physically active
- 1x every 3 months = For average-weight patients with at least one risk factor*
- 1x every 2 months = For average-weight patients with at least two risk factors*
- 1x month = For overweight or obese patients with at least two risk factors*
*Risk factors are in respect to diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular or neurodegenerative disease. Examples of risk factors include pre-existing illness, blood biomarkers, family history and genetic mutations.
What day is best to start the Fast Mimicking Diet?
Many people decide to start the fast mimicking diet on a Sunday night so they can engage normally in social eating the following weekend. Note that when you finish on the Friday night (last ProLon meal), you don’t resume your normal diet until you wake up on Saturday.
Prior Preparation
For at least one week before the fast mimicking diet, Valter recommends following the Longevity Diet, with 0.36 grams of protein per pound of body weight per day, preferably obtained from vegetables and fish. Multivitamin supplements of omega-3 should be taken at least twice during this preparatory week.
Side effects?
- Some people feel weak during parts of the fast mimicking diet. Others say they feel more energetic
- Some patients complain of light headaches. This effect is usually greatly reduced by day 4 or 5, and eliminated entirely by the second or third fast mimicking diet cycle.
- Most people feel hungry during the first few days of the fast mimicking diet. This effect is greatly reduced by day 4 or 5 and on all days during the second or third cycle.
Positive Effects
In addition to the production of stem cells, the reduction of abdominal fat, and lower levels of risk factors for various illnesses, many people report the following beneficial effects during or after the fast mimicking diet:
- Glowing skin, which many describe as “younger looking.”
- Stronger mental focus.
- An ability to resist bingeing once they resume a normal diet. Many reduce their consumption of sugar and calories, and are less prone to excess in their consumption of coffee, alcohol, desserts, etc.
L-Drink
The fast mimicking diet is low in a number of things, including total calories and protein. Valter notes in the below video that it’s not just what the diet lacks, it’s also about what the diet contains, that gives it the positive results.
The ProLon box contains a 118ml (4 fl oz) bottle of liquid, called L-Drink, for each of days 2 to 5. Based on your bodyweight, you decant a specified amount of the L-Drink into a water bottle, and dilute the rest with tap water. Then you aim to drink the whole thing throughout the day.
^ ProLon L-Drink – interestingly the orange flavour is cloudy and the lemon is clear – presumably due to the contents of the flavoring used
L-Drink Function
Valter describes the function of the L-Drink as being to provide an external source of glycerol. People who are in a fasted state naturally produce glycerol, and this is used for gluconeogenesis (the production of glucose (energy) from non-carbohydrate substrates like fat and muscle). Valter notes in the video below that after 3 ProLon cycles, when measured, people are found to have lost minimal amounts of muscle – and one of the reasons could be due to the L-Drink.
See the video below for more on Valter Longo discussing the role of glycerol:
L-Drink Ingredients
- Purified water: Unlikely to form any function, other than as a base to mix the rest of the ingredients into, and then bulk them up for measuring out quantities
- Vegetable glycerine: As mentioned above, this provides the body with an external source of glycerol to aid in gluconeogenesis
- Natural flavor: To make more interesting to drink, and perhaps mask any uncomfortable taste from the glycerine
- Potassium sorbate: Whilst potassium is an electrolyte, it doesn’t seem common to choose it in sorbate form for electrolyte purposes. Therefore it’s most likely that potassium sorbate is included for preservative reasons – to extend the shelf life of L-Drink
How Much Glycerine to Use?
Whilst the L-Drink nor its labels say the exact amount (in grams) of glycerine they’re using, we can still use inference to calculate it with reasonable precision.I’ve turned this calculation into a calculator, which you can use below:
Below are the calculations I’ve used for glycerine quantities:
According to the L-drink label below it’s formulated such that the 120ml bottle contains 118 calories.
You then pour out the contents until you hit the mark on the bottle which represents your weight in kg. Using a measuring cup, I checked and found that each mark represents the equivalent in milliliters (ml).
So for example, a 70 kg person is going to pour out 70 ml.
Therefore, using the total calories as a guide, we can see that 120 ml of the bottle contains 29.5 grams of glycerol. This is because glycerol is very close to 100% carbohydrates, and 1 gram of carbohydrates equals 4 calories. So 118 calories divided by 4 equals 29.5 grams.
Working backwards from this, we can see that each kilogram of bodyweight would need 0.245 grams of glycerine.
Or, converting this to metric units, 1 lb equals 0.111 grams of glycerol. So a 154.32 lbs person (70 kg) again would use 17.13 grams of glycerine. (Yes, I lost 0.02 grams due to rounding, but this is close enough).
So a 70 kg person would need 17.15 grams of glycerine. Of course… measuring 0.15 grams is a fools errand, so we can round to 17 grams. However, for preciseness, the calculator below using the more exact numbers.
Once you have calculated how much vegetable glycerine you would need per day, you can then:
- Measure this out each day on days 2, 3, 4 & 5.
- Add it to a water flask, and shake to mix. If it’s not mixing due to the water being cold, using warmer water may help with initial mix.
- Optionally add a calorie free flavoring. The L-Drink does this to improve palatability.
Is Vegetable Glycerine Safe?
Vegetable glycerine is commonly used in food & cosmetics. For example in food, it’s used to prevent icing setting too firm, and for making ice cream softer to scoop.
In a 2012 study into the effectiveness of glycerol for sports performance, they used a dose of 1.2 grams per kilogram of bodyweight for each study participant, with no noted adverse health effects1The Effect of Glycerol Supplements on Aerobic and Anaerobic Performance of Athletes and Sedentary Subjects – J Hum Kinet (2012). 1.2g/kg is a much higher dose than is used in ProLon. Just to re-iterate, glycerine/glycerol are the same thing, however commercially it’s often referred to as glycerine, and inside the body as glycerol.
Where can I buy vegetable glycerine?
Many will be familiar with seeing glycerine available in supermarkets, typically in the baking aisle. It can also be found on Amazon and other online retailers.
You can check if it is “food grade” just to be on the safe side.
NR-3 Vitamin Supplement
In addition to the food contained in the ProLon box, there is also a multivitamin called NR-3. This is taken twice daily, at lunch & dinner. The majority of the ingredients for this supplement are vitamins. However it also contains:
- Two amino acids; Methionine & Cysteine
- Methylsulfonylmethane (MSM)
- The minerals Zinc, Selenium & Copper
And a picture of the actual ingredients list:
What can we learn from NR-3?
In the above list, the bulk of the ingredients are vitamins (11), which are all essential to regular cellular processes. Then there are two amino acids; methionine & cysteine.
(As a reminder, amino acids make up what we call “protein”, and there are 9 essential amino acids (of which methionine is one), which are the building blocks for the human body)
It’s interesting to note the ratio of methionine to cysteine, which is approx: 1:4. Apparently it’s possible to reduce the body’s need for methionine, by adding more cysteine2Minimum methionine requirement and cysteine sparing of methionine in healthy school-age children – Humayun MA (2006), thus I’d hypothesize that is the strategy here – provide a minimum level of methionine, through the addition of cysteine. It could be that too much methionine triggers cellular functions that detract from the fasting process, but adding cysteine does not cause the same trigger. The benefit of this could be to help keep IGF-1 activation low.
Methionine is generally found in plentiful quantities in animal products, thus given ProLon is formulated of vegan ingredients, this may be a reason to supplement some additional methionine. Note, they also add vitamin B12 which is a common deficit in vegan diets.
One thing they add is MSM, for which I don’t have any hypotheses for its inclusion – but I would note that the amount is very low. Most off the shelf supplements are in the range of 100mg+ whereas NR-3 contains 6mg per capsule.
Probably my biggest takeaway from the analysis of NR-3 is the deliberate intention to keep methionine levels adequate, but low. This suggests to me, that if one tries to formulate a DIY fast mimicking diet, then it absolutely needs to be done using vegan ingredients (to keep as true to the original formulation as possible). It’s possible that if we formulate using animal ingredients (even whilst sticking to the same macros), we end up over-doing it with regards to certain amino acids.
NR-3 Alternative?
In order to achieve similar effects to the NR-3 supplement, it’s likely easiest to use a well formulated multi-vitamin. Examples include Thorne’s 2 / Day or Pure Encapsulations – ONE – which don’t contain anything extra beyond vitamins and minerals. That being said, most multivitamins contain much greater levels of vitamins and minerals than NR-3 – and it’s not clear if that would interact negatively with the fasting process.
What we can be sure of, is that adding a greater level of either of the amino acids found in NR-3; methionine & cysteine – would be counter-productive, as this could increase IGF-1 & mTor, which the diet specifically works to reduce. That being said, it would be very uncommon for off the shelf multivitamin supplements to contain amino acids (certainly the above 2 examples do not). But definitely avoid amino acid supplements (such as BCAAs), unless you decided to go the route of individual amino acid powders, in which case you could measure out the exact quantity that NR-3 uses.
Further Info
Additionally I’ve mentioned both of these links above already, but will mention them again in case they help you formulate your fast mimicking diet:
- The first is a set of tables that provide the blow by blow macros and calories for each day of ProLon.
- The second is details of the individual products in the ProLon diet, with their respective nutritional information.
References
- 1
- 2
Hello,
Thanks for the article. However, the glycerine calculator does not work, neither in Firefox, nor in other browsers. Also, in the calculation it’s said that we should multiply the weight in kilograms with 0.9, however, in the example it is multiplied with 1.111. Perhaps, I am missing something…
Hi, thanks for the message! Apologies, I had broken the Javascript for the calculator – have now fixed it. Secondly, that’s my mistake using 0.9 in the calculation; should have been 1.111 both times in the example. That’s also now corrected.
Regarding the safety of “Vegetable Glycerine”: does this align with the recent research regarding emulsifier-induced metabolic syndrome?
Hi. Honestly, not aware of emulsifier-induced metabolic syndrome. My intial presumption is that given the low levels of glucose consumed during this diet (compared to baseline), exacerbating metabolic syndrome is unlikely. If anything I’d expect biomarkers like insulin and blood glucose regulation to have improved by the end. If you’ve further thoughts on the subject, let me know.
Thank you so so much for your post. It has been helpful to do a DIY version. I’m on round 4 at the moment. I’m not sure my DIY version is good enough though. I’m using documents provided by GenX life is Good.
Using the glycerine makes a huge difference. I forgot to take it one day and I felt so weak.
Hi, thanks for the message. Glad to hear the post helped!
I normally take Maca, Blackroot cohosh, Evening primrose, and other vitamins. Can I cont to take them during FMD?
Yeah, I don’t see why a few herbs and some vitamins would be an issue. The actual ProLon diet box contains multivitamins.
Hi John, love your content, but as a counter point in case anyone is reading this – Many herbs and supplements are known to impact autophagy and mitophagy – you should avoid all additional supplements when doing the FMD, especially a DIY version.
Hi Ollie – appreciate the comment. However I do generally prefer when someone cites a study alongside a claim.
“Impacting mitophagy/mitophagy” can be a 1% or 200% difference, if you see what I mean. So I’d like to go back to the source to try and understand the potential impact.
Hi,
Thanks so much for this very helpful article!
One question in the glycerol; the brand I bought contained 15% water. Should I therefore divide the calculated glycerol weight with 0,85? I.e is the calculation based on 100% glycerol? It seemed that the volume of glycerol was less than when I used the Prolon box so I’m guessing this could be the case but wanted to make sure. Felt a bit weaker and a bit more hungry than the last time when I used the box so perhaps this is one of the reasons for it.
Thanks again for a very helpful article!
BR,
Cath
Hi John, I cannot thank you enough for this article and the breakdown in specifics of the supplements/glycerol. There is nothing like it out there for public use, and I have searched, believe me! This is my 3rd round of a DIY FMD, and at this point I think I have it down to as close as possible to the Prolon. I was missing the glycerine and multivitamin amounts, and I assume that every quantity matters, given what Valter has said about what is ADDED to the macros given, such as glycerin, in the overall effectiveness.
Oh, the calculator is not working again… I appreciate the formula as a back-up.. you’ve just about thought of everything!
Thanks for the comment Trish! Dang, I’ve broken the Javascript for the glycerol calculator in some way.
I will try to make time to fix it.
Yes, in the meantime at least the calculations are available to manually calculate it.
Hello,
thank you so much for your great blog!
Great help!
Only one thing – I can’t find day 2-5 informations – do I oversee something?
You give details for day one, and then about day 6….
Hi Eva! Thanks for the comment. Great point, looks like I’d deleted that section by mistake. Have added it back now.
Thank you for a very helpful and well explained article!
Anyone out there experiencing anxiety with the L-Drink? The first three times I didn’t have any problems, but this time I do.
Hi Sue. Haven’t experienced that personally, but maybe other readers will have.
I connected the anxiety to the Potassium Sorbate (a preservative). A friend experienced the same symptoms when she drank the L-Drink the week before. (I avoid preservatives so my body is sensitive to them).
My box had the NR-1 supplement, not NR-3. And only taken with lunch, not 2x/day. Also noticed it doesn’t have methionine & cysteine.
Also curious how much of each of these amino acids you take daily.
Thanks.
Hi GS, apologies for delayed reply.
Just had a look at the ingredients for the NR-1 – as you say – it doesn’t contain any cysteine or methionine.
I haven’t used a ProLon box in some time, so it’s entirely possible they’ve now phased out the NR-3 in favour of NR-1.
I was originally surprised that the supplement they used added any amino acids. For a DIY ProLon I wouldn’t personally add any extra amino acids beyond the ones you get naturally from your plant based protein sources.
So for the calculator (unless I’m missing something), it’s just body weight in pounds divided by 8. No need to “multiply by 0.5 and then divide by 4”. Just divide by 8, same thing and just one step.
Thanks, good point, it’s true. Have updated the post to reflect this (and simplify).
So if I am 150lbs, then I am only taking 19 grams or 0.64 oz of glycerin per day? It seems so small. I’ve done a DIY FMD for 5 cycles and always feel weak and fatigued. Seems like it took 1-2 weeks to recover all my muscle strength, but I never took the glycerin drink and was probably very low on electrolytes. It sounds like the glycerin will make a difference. Thanks for sharing John!
Hi Matt. Thanks for the message.
Yes, that seems correct on the glycerol.
Regarding the fatigue and recovery time – that fits with my experience also. Certainly there’s a week recovery at least. Which makes sense – you’re essentially starving yourself for 5 days.
Not just that, but sleep gets effected, and often you end up running on adrenaline more than normal.
Of course, how active you are over those 5 days will make a difference too.
The glycerin made a big difference in my strength and energy level. I was on chemo for 9 weeks earlier this year, so I did FMD for 3 cycles in that period, each around 8-9 days long in order to match the chemo cycles. It was tough. I still had the hair loss, nausea and sluggishness, but I’m glad I did it. I might have recovered faster that other people, but it’s hard to say.
Hi Matt, thanks for following up on the post and letting us know your experience.
That’s good to hear that the glycerine may have helped and that you may have recovered faster than others.
I’ve a few questions, if you have time to answer:
John,
Thank you for this excellent overview. It has helped me get a good sense of the ProLon FMD.
Some of the current nutrition labels, as published on the official ProLon site (they have a page with all of the product labels), are different (having somewhat different ingredients and macro numbers) than the (presumably older) ones that you show in this post, and I wonder if you would consider adding the current labels/numbers to your post above, or at least noting in the text that your above examples are from an earlier iteration of the product.
Also, I have a question about the current nutrition label of the L-drink, which says that each serving is 12 mL and that the bottle contains 10 servings. The current L-drink’s nutrition label does not say anything about “meant to provide x amount of calories for an x amount of body weight”, and I wonder if they have reduced the mL amount per pound, since they have reduced what they are calling a “serving size” so much (from 17 mL to 12 mL). Do you have any knowledge of the current mL to pound/kg ratio they are suggesting?
Hey, thanks for the detailed message. Yes, I can update things with the newer labels. However I won’t be able to get to it straight away. Regarding the L-Drink – yes – it’s possible they changed the quantities. Although given that the size of the bottles is the same, and from what I can see there’s a similar number of notches, if they’ve changed it, it’s only by a very small amount. Still, everything with the FMD is small! So it’d be good to find out. Unfortunately I can’t find a picture of the back of the latest L-Drink to compare the quantities they’re suggesting.
If any readers see this and can send a pic, it’d be much appreciated.
I was not sure if putting in a url would lead to my prior post being rejected automatically, so I left it out above, but I will enter it here to give you the link to the current “official” nutrition labels that I am referring to: https://prolonfast.com/pages/ingredients-supplement-facts
Danke! Das habe ich sehr lange gesucht!
Hi John, Thank you for your reply.
I searched further after leaving my question, but did not find out any more about the pound/mL ratio and did not see any random-reviewers’ posted images of the current bottle that included those prior explicit instructions. I expect that you are probably right about the overall ratio’s being the same as before, but it seems a strange thing for them to tinker with (changing the “serving size” on the nutrition label) when the bottle has the same amount in it, the lines on the side seem to be for the same weights, at the same spots, on the new bottle and the old bottle, and they want customers to throw away each day’s unused amount anyway.
Secondly, I ran across something that I found interesting but did not see many mentions of — they had introduced a “professional” Pro-Lon that was only being sold by vetted health professionals/coaches, with different soup flavors, bars, and ingredients — designed to be nightshade-free and low-lectin. I found about five practitioners who still have sales webpages up for it, and there was a range of prices (for the identical 5-day package) from below $200 to over $400, if I remember correctly. That version caught my eye because I have a lot of trouble with nightshades and lectins and therefore I would not be able to tolerate the ingredients of the original/main Pro-Lon recipes even if I could otherwise handle the “natural flavors” and other dodgy ingredients in the dried mixes and processed bars that would likely cause me to feel ill in one way or the other. If I remember correctly, this professional version has a piece of a chocolate bar at breakfast, which is interesting. Anyway, most of the sales pages say that it has been discontinued, and the official Pro-Lon company site does not even mention it in their “For Professionals” area. I am mentioning this to you because I am sure there are people like me who need to put together a nightshade-free and low-lectin DIY homemade Pro-Lon, and seeing the ingredient labels for the soup selections and bar contents might help them. I think I found only one site that shows the backs of the labels – let me know if you would like me to dig that up for you. I also mention it because probably it was a newer iteration of their overall Pro-Lon design, taking into account new research results from recent years, and might be of interest to all DIYers who are trying to piece together the latest approaches (e.g., the piece of chocolate and the other unique components of the five-day plan).
Thirdly, I was very interested to find a clinic in Canada (I think it was) that is offering their own wholefoods/freshly-prepared version of the five-day Pro-Lon diet to patients/paying customers — and the site mentions the Pro-Lon brand name and descriptive info, and prices it at the standard $250, making it seem as if it might be officially sanctioned by Pro-Lon — but that would be strange if they did sanction just one clinic to do a “catered” fresh-foods version of the program, since there is no suggestion on the Pro-Lon site that such a thing is available. Let me know if you want me to find that url for you as well. I am sure that a fresh-foods version in refrigerated or even frozen portions that could be sent via one-day or two-day mail would be very popular with some people who feel forced to DIY it at the moment because they can’t handle eating powdered mixes for five days.
Hi. Just to clarify, I do 100% agree that it would be good to check on the “latest” quantities of glycerine. It would be great to do that as soon as possible and update the post. I just don’t have access to a bottle at the moment. Regarding points 2 and 3, yes, if you can share those URLs that would be of interest! Understandable regarding nightshades/lectins. I’ve personally had to adjust my diet as I’ve got older, as certain foods are just not tolerated the same way anymore.
b. the ProLon Professional site.
Below s the Main page url — scroll down a bit to see the photo of the food packets in the “professional” version — there is the “85% dark chocolate” bar/piece/item on the front left next to the glycerin drink bottles.
As far as I can see, they do not show on the official site the backs of the labels or the contents of the products in this version. Nor do they give the order of consumption on the five days.
They do not mention on the official site, not even on the FAQ page (afaik), that this version of ProLon is formulated to be low in nightshades, grains, and inulin, but that feature is mentioned on the sites of most of the official sellers of the Professional version that I came across in my internet search last week.
site: https://prolonprofessional.com/
Regarding having the dark choc bar/piece at a breakfast meal, I don’t know now where I saw that in the suggested order of consuming the packaged foods over the five-day period, but I am pretty sure that I did see it on one or the other ProLon Professional seller’s site, because it struck me as being slightly unusual timing (but also aligning with a recent study I read about, about two months ago now, which tested giving subjects a piece of dark choc at meals three times a day, including breakfast).
c. Here is a site of a Professional version seller showing the ingredients of each packet in this third version.
If it strikes you as worthwhile, it would be great if you could do a screen grab of these in case they take this page down (since this ProLon version is apparently “discontinued”), because I am momentarily not able to do that, at my location.
I see that the glycerin drink here has 12ml per serving. No instructions about the body weight calculation.
Also, if they have gone to such lengths to do a nightshade-free, inulin-free, mostly-grain-free version of all the ProLon products for this version, I would have thought that they would have taken care with some other more common food intolerances, but on the bars it is stated, “Manufactured in a facility that processes tree nuts, peanuts, milk, eggs, and shellfish.”
(As an example, two of those could be a problem for me. But I could not have the bars anyway, due to multiple intentional ingredients in them.)
The soups, though, seem to mainly be made of ingredients that I can have, which is a far cry from the original two sets of soups.
…I wonder if people who know they definitely have nightshade and/or grain and/or inulin intolerances could ask for this third variety of soups when buying from the direct-to-consumer ProLon site….
site:
https://tcchealth.myshopify.com/products/prolon-professional-kit
d. another site of a seller of the Professional version.
They don’t describe or show the labels, but do have an informative list of the food items and the reasons behind this third version of the kit:
excerpt:
“What makes Prolon Professional different?
ProLon Professional is unique in that it is intended for the sensitive gut–
NO nightshades
NO lectins
REDUCED inulin
REDUCED grain
This new ProLon also offers a new flavor profile:
NEW crackers
NEW olives
NEW soups with a NEW texture
REAL chocolate square each day
• Artichoke-Based Soup Mix
• Vegetable-Based Soup Mix
• Beet-Based Soup Mix
• Asparagus-Based Soup Mix
• Broccoli-Based Soup Mix
• Olives (Garlic Thyme)
• Almond Crackers
• All New Vegan Dark Chocolate
• Tea
• L-Drink
• L-bar (two flavors: nut-based and choco crisp)
• Supplements”
site:
https://www.verdurehealthco.com/products/prolon-fasting-mimicking-diet-professional
e. here is a product description of the newer version (by which I mean the iteration having the 12 ml glycerin serving size instead of the 17 ml) of one of the two standard ProLons (the first two — which differ only, or mainly, in regards to the soup flavors).
This page has fronts and backs of all the labels.
On the glycerin drink, it looks like there is some print on the side of the bottle that is not shown here.
site:
https://kaldzar.com/prolon-review-contents/
f. ProLon sells a one-day fast pack to try out what the FIRST day (obviously the easiest day in terms of calories and quantity!) is like, before purchasing the whole program:
excerpt:
“With the ProLon Fast Pack, we’re making fasting easier and more convenient for you to try.
Plus it’s safer than regular fasting—you’ll feel less hungry and more nourished on this clinically-tested plant-based program.
Once you crush Day 1 and are ready to experience the benefits of the full 5-Day ProLon fast, you’ll have the knowledge and confidence to go the distance. ”
$39.99
site:
https://prolonfast.com/products/prolon-fast-pack
g. ProLon also sells a different one-day pack, called a ReSet pack, and aims it at people who are doing a 5:2 style of weekly fasting (which is a commercially-clever way of easily and cheaply expanding into the territory of another popular version of fasting)
and at people who already went through a traditional five-day ProLon experience and just want to do a one-day refresher.
excerpt:
“ProLon ReSet is the only scientifically backed 1-day nutrition kit that puts your body in a fasting state, helping you take the time to reset and recharge.
Use it during any day of the week whenever you feel that you had a few days of overindulgence or unhealthy lifestyle. Or adopt it as a fasting nutrition lifestyle program by consuming it once or twice a week (for example, use it as the 5:2 diet – two days of fasting nutrition, 5 days of traditional food). ”
Retail price $44.99
(for less actual food than the other one-day pack they are selling for $39.99!)
Site:
https://prolonfast.com/products/reset
h. The ProLon parent company L-Nutra (founded by Longo) has a few other related brands –
including the Fast Bar, similar to ProLon’s L-bar, which is often mentioned in reviews of ProLon, of course.
There is also, voila, a company that sells pricey, prepared-fresh meals made according to Longo’s nutritional recommendations and ships them out in 48 hours (probably refrigerated, maybe frozen, I didn’t catch that detail).
excerpt:
“At L-Nutra, we insist on using ingredients grown at our own regenerative farm. State-of-the-art approaches to farming have allowed us to focus on the soil, and refrain from using synthetic chemicals. Picking at the peak of ripeness (and nutrient denseness), and shipping door-to-door within 48 hours means our meals are packed with wholesome goodness, and are health oriented.
Nutritionally balanced by in-house nutritionists, and with keen attention to flavor and texture, Nutrition for Longevity offers a variety of chef-curated meal plans. It’s nutritious, wholesome, and health oriented. It’s convenient. And it’s all based on decades of nutrition research.”
(They are heavy on the nightshades – when I looked last week at the actual meal schedule, I didn’t see anything I could try, even if I wanted to.)
site:
https://l-nutra.com/our-brands/
i. I rewatched an 85-min interview of Valter from two years ago by Mark Hyman on Hyman’s youtube channel last night, and noticed that Valter said something about how the five ProLon days are scheduled so that one day will be high in the fiber that increases the lactobacillus and bifidobacteria in the gut, and the next day will be much lower, etc., varying — based on prior research. That may be why they apparently don’t have the kale crackers every day, and for other little day-to-day differences like that.
He also said that going higher fat and lower carb in the five days would definitely achieve stronger, better health results, at least in the short term, but he made the choice that the commercial product would be a bit higher in carbs and lower in fat, because a very ketogenic version would make it harder for the average patient to do, would be more of a contrast to the typical high carb diet most people would be on before and then after the five days, and might create a yoyo high/low carb effect in patients that do ProLon for a few months in a row that could be stressful and unbalancing to some patients in the longer run. He wanted first to have a mainstream program that was not too hard for novices/ill people/etc. to do, which still reliably resulted in some definite benefits.
This might be common knowledge for folks who have watched several interviews of him, but I have only recently been paying close attention when I see him being interviewed (because I am planning to do a DIY FMD soon).
Hi John,
it looks like most of my posts tonight — (b) to (i) — have been approved,
but post (a) was not, maybe because I inadvertently copied and pasted a health clinic’s contact details in it.
I will post that post again here, excluding those details from the end.
I am about to lose battery power on this borrowed tablet, so I will sign off after this post tonight. Thank you for letting me share with your readers some of the info I have found while looking into the Longo FMD!
——
a. I have looked through my notes and here are the websites I mentioned in my last post.
I will make a separate post for each of these because I am hunting and pecking on a little tablet screen tonight, and the comment window here gets unwieldy and stops letting me scroll up.
(Note that I was right to caution earlier that my recollections of what was on these sites may not have been completely right — I will explain below.)
a. The health clinic/site from Canada that does a locally-prepared, catered version of the FMD.
They do mention ProLon several times and the name of Dr. Longo, but upon skimming the page again now, I see that they make more of a distinction than I had remembered between their FMD and Longo’s. However, they seem to imply that this one has similar effects to the trademarked/researched one without, as far as I noticed anyway, including the more specific disclaimers that I have seen on most other websites that describe or offer an unofficial variation of the Longo FMD.
excerpt:
“What Is the Fasting Mimicking Diet? (FMD)
The fasting mimicking diet is a five-day fasting program designed to enhance longevity and health span. The diet is created in a way that makes your body recognize that it’s in a fasted state, even though the body is being fed. This nutritional breakthrough was designed by the University of California, led by a researcher by the name of Dr. Valter Longo.
How Is The Whole Food FMD Diet Different From The Prolon Diet?
Justine’s whole food FMD diet is made up of the same macronutrient composition as the proton diet created by the University of California. The whole food version is made with all organic, whole foods and is made with organic ingredients from scratch. Each participant will receive a complete package that includes all the food they will eat for the duration of the five days, divided and labelled into breakfast, lunch and supper for each day .
Who Should Participate In The Fasting Mimicking Diet?
The fasting mimicking diet is for anyone interested in improving their sense of well-being, taking a break from their habituated eating patterns, improving their health span, and enhancing longevity. The fasting mimicking diet has been studied to support neurodegenerative disease, cancer, cardiovascular disease, obesity, diabetes, and autoimmune disease. The fasting mimicking diet is not a weight loss program. Most people experience weight loss over the course of the five days but it is not recommended to participate in this program for the primary purpose of weight loss, ”
Thank you for this thorough post. It’s extremely helpful. I’ve done the actual program at least 3 times but those soups are hard to eat. Other posts about Prolon DIY are not as informative.
I’ve done 2 FMD from the box and now combine the 2. Days 1and 2 I do DIY, since you are “emptying the gas tank” per the coaching sessions, then days 3 and 4 I use the boxes, day 5 it all depends how I’m feeling. I measure out the amount of L drink from the bottle the refrigerate till the next day, this leaves me with several unopened bottles. I watch what I eat several days before.
Thanks for letting us know your strategy Nancy. How about the recovery after… how long does it typically take you… and what sort of foods do you eat?
Anyone know why salt is eliminated? I personally have some electrolyte issues and take a large prescribed Potassium daily. I also crave salt like SOB and I wonder what 5 days without salt will feel like. Anyone have any thoughts on this?
Hi Matt, I’m honestly not too sure on this. I can’t immediately understand why some extra salt would interfere with the benefits of the fast.
The calculation is about 4X wrong, I think you calculated the total amount for four days. It says “25kcal per serving” on the bottle, and Glycerin is 4,32kcal/g, indicating 5-6 grams per person per day (depending on weight). The “50 kcal per 100 pounds” referred to on the bottle, is more likely for four days (even though that should be more clearly worded). Your principles for calculation are good, but that assumption is wrong, I believe.
For those using : About a teaspoon is good.
Don’t know to what extent taking 4X the dosage is a problem, but might as well take the “correct” dosage.
Hi, thanks for your comment.
I appreciate being questioned, it keeps me on my toes.
In this instance I’ll disagree.
Each ProLon kit provides 4 bottles of L-Drink, to consume on days 2, 3, 4 & 5. Day 1 is the only day you don’t get given a bottle.
Perhaps you had in mind that each ProLon kit only provides 1 bottle in total?
Given that you get 4 for each of the 4 days you’re supposed to take one… the serving amount they suggest is on a per day basis.
That said, I have just received a new ProLon box where they measure out the L-Drink slightly differently to prior (as best I can tell).
I’d updated the maths calculations for this, and the old maths differs slightly. For example the calculator previously had a 70kg person taking 17 grams, whereas now it’s closer to 15 grams. So slightly less.
Granted that’s less than 10 calories of difference – so not a huge deal.
The NOW Vegetable glycerine … is NOT or no longer food grade.
Hi Steven, thanks for the message to let us know. I’ve removed reference to the NOW brand on the post, and simply said to check online, and to make sure it’s “food grade”.
Hi John,
I am the “boo” person who left several comments in this discussion thread last year.
I have returned today to see what I wrote then, because at that time my laptop had just died and I was compiling info regarding doing a DIY FMD on a borrowed tablet which I had to quickly give back, and only then did I discover that because the borrowed tablet was a Kindle, there was no way I could copy or export all the FMD internet links I’d bookmarked on it… after that, my FMD momentum waned for a while. But it’s a good time for me to try the DIY FMD, and I remembered that your blog page was holding some of the notes I had compiled last year, so I came back to re-acquaint myself with my research. 🙂
Here are a few things I noticed this week when reading the current ProLon websites and comparing their content to what I had mentioned about them last year in this thread:
1. The “for health professionals” ProLon website now only offers the same soup varieties as the normal ProLon box (I think it only offers the 1st set of flavors, the one that is probably the original set of flavors, which is also available to the general public when they buy ProLon, but it does not offer the new “3rd generation” set of flavors, which is also now available to the general public; the “2nd generation” set of flavors has apparently been retired).
2. I don’t see any more mentions of the prior ProLon version that was “formulated to be low in nightshades, grains, and inulin”. As someone who has problems with all three, I think it’s unfortunate that they decided not to continue developing that.
3. I have found 3 versions on current, official ProLon sites of the nutritional supplement. In their “supplement facts” box listings, they differ slightly amongst themselves as to the quantities and ingredients, but they are all really different from your NR-3 version that you mention and picture in the above blog post, so you might want to replace the NR-3 info above with one of ProLon’s current formulas (which they call NR-1). Of the current formulas, 2 are tablets and 1 is capsules. Interestingly, I noticed that the particular NR-1 version that they claim to include with their “Reset Box” (which has only 1 fasting day’s worth of supplies) has better versions of Folate (calcium folinate vs. folic acid) and of B12 (methylcobalamin vs. cyanocobalamin). Beyond often having different percentages and sometimes forms of the micronutrients, their nutritional supplements no longer include amino acids at all, which you might want to note in the relevant section of your blog post above.
4. I have read your comment that you left in this discussion thread about 6 months ago saying that the L-Drink calculation formula in a recent ProLon box you had bought was a little bit different from the formula you described in the blog post — you might want to put that update about the glycerine calculation in your main post and in the drop-down weight formula.
Thank you again for the great info in your original post here!
Since you mentioned in the comments section about 6 months ago that you are still doing the official ProLon box occasionally, I’ll look around your site to see if you have other posts about how it’s going for you!
I was also going to mention to you and your readers a new version of a home-based fasting mimicking diet that a pair of fasting clinics/resorts have developed in Europe.
That clinic, Buchinger Wilhelmi, has been promoting periodic fasting for 4-20 days (with a small amount of food each day) for more than 100 years. A few years ago, they started to do scientific studies and publish journal articles on their method of fasting. I have enjoyed some of their YouTube videos and website articles.
They are aware of Longo and they actually presented him with an award at their annual fasting conference some years ago (which is in one of their YouTube videos), but up to now, in their written information and numerous YouTube videos, they have been quite negative about the idea of trying to fast or fast-mimick at home for longer than 24 hours without having medical supervision (like they offer in their resorts/clinics). They also published a YouTube video only about 8 months ago that was critical of fasting mimicking at-home plans that were based on freeze-dried ingredients, etc.
Therefore, I was surprised a couple of months ago when they suddenly introduced their own 5-days, at-home fasting-mimicking box for sale. (It’s only for sale in Europe, as far as I know.)
The good part is that their soups and other foods are not freeze-dried, they are in a liquid state and are in glass jars.
They also have no (none that I saw) preservatives, artificial flavorings, stabilizers, bulking agents, etc., which is totally great.
Sadly for me, they rely a lot on nightshades and other high-lectin foods (like hummus and cashews), so I couldn’t use their box myself.
Anyway, in case anyone here is interested to compare and contrast this at-home FMD with ProLon, it is called the Buchinger Wilhelmi fasting box and you can find into on it on their main website (which has a German version and an English version). They also publish the list of ingredients and the nutrition label macro breakdown for each item in the box.
They have some fanciful YouTube videos advertising the fasting box with a youngish, healthy-looking lady lounging around her zillion-dollar home in the Swiss mountains and walking along the beautiful hiking trails above Lake Constance, but the videos actually don’t go into the specific ingredients much, so it’s best to look on their website for the details.
Hi, thanks for the info regarding the Buchinger Wilhelmi fasting box. I’ll have to take a look and compare their approaches. Interesting that they initially critiqued the “fasting box at home” approach, the introduced their own one. You’ve really been keeping tabs on the field!