What is the best way to fast?

What types of fasting are there?

Officially, fasting is the process of completely withdrawing from food to enter a “fasting state.” In recent years, many different forms of fasting have emerged, all of which have their own advantages and disadvantages.

Intermittent fasting

16:8

With intermittent fasting 16/8, you don’t eat for 16 hours and you eat for the remaining 8 hours each day. Many people keep their “eating window” between 12:00 and 20:00. This is a very popular way of fasting because it is very accessible to many people. How you want to schedule it is entirely up to you. You can also make it even more effective by going to 20/4, where you only eat in a 4-hour window and thus fast for 20 hours.

5:2 diet

The 5:2 diet is also a form of intermittent fasting. Two days a week you don’t eat for 24 hours (or hardly at all), and five days you eat normally. With this diet, there are no real restrictions on what you can eat. It’s primarily about when you eat.

Water fasting

This is a form of fasting where nothing but water may be consumed. The duration of a water fast is often 24-72 hours, but some people do it for 5-7 days or even longer. The longer your body is in a “fast,” the more you experience the benefits. That’s why water fasting has good effects because your body is in a fasting state for a longer period of time. But beware: if you keep it up for a really long time, your organs can come to a standstill. If you have any doubts about your health, contact your doctor before you start.

Fasting Mimicking Diets (FMD)

For many people, fasting is quite difficult, especially if you are not forced into it. We all have a natural urge to eat, especially when food is up for grabs. Research shows that our cells react especially strongly to shortages of protein (=building material) and sugar (=fuel).

That science led the top scientist Valter Longo to the idea of a “fasting mimicking diet”: food with virtually no sugar and protein, but mainly fiber and healthy fats, so that your body thinks that nothing is coming in while you can eat something. Tons of research since then has shown that fasting mimicking diets have almost the same effects as total fasting.

Benefits of Fasting Mimicking Diets

FMDs are formulated exactly so that the body reacts as if nothing is eaten at all. There is a growing body of research showing that regular use of an FMD can contribute to better health. For healthy people, doing an FMD is also safe. You may experience mild symptoms such as occasional sluggishness (due to the lack of energy) or headaches (due to a lack of your accustomed amount of caffeine).

Scientist Valter Longo created the first and only FMD as part of L-Nutra. More than 20 years of extensive research, millions of investments and many different trials conducted worldwide finally led to the development of the first FMD®: ProLon®. The program consists of a 5-day plant-based meal program consisting of a mix of complex carbohydrates, very little protein and high levels of healthy fats.