One of the most popular types of dieting right now is fasting. Like any type of diet, there are many varieties that people invest their time and money in trying to find their path to s healthier life. Though the most familiar may be intermittent fasting there is gaining in popularity…the Prolon Diet also known as fasting-mimicking.
This is a low-calorie, high-fat form of intermittent fasting. But when it comes to your health just having a general definition of this diet is not enough. So we wanted to take a deep dive into what exactly the Prolon diet is and what you need to know about it.
Hopefully, this article answers all your major questions and you decided whether this is something you want to ask your physician about. With that being said let’s jump into the information.
Prolon Diet: What Is It?
Valter Longo over many years working in his role as the director at the Longevity Institute concentrated on studying diets that worked at activating the body’s built-in fasting modes systems. When it comes to how the body uses fat in this state he found that the body finds ways to feed the cells and maintain a balance when it comes to metabolism at the same time.
From this, he developed the Prolon diet. This is a plan that uses the fast-mimicking method. To do this the diet comes with a five-day predesigned meal kit. These meals include snacks and plant-based, whole-food foods. Each of the meals is crafted with a high protein, low carb design. The kit of five meals is the only food that the dieter will eat.
Ingredients are important but calorie composition is maybe even more important. The first meal of the diet plan is crafted to contain about 1100 calories with the bulk of that being distributed in the fat category. For the rest of the week, the meals will be roughly about 750 calories each with a more even distribution of those calories being between fat and carbs.
The low-calorie meals that are crafted with a high fat and low carb composition trigger your body’s glucogenesis process. This is the process that your body uses to take food and generate energy from sources that are non-carbohydrates, or the stores of glycogen have dissipated.
A limited calorie intake forces our body into its natural fasting response. This process uses the fat stores we all have to create energy when in fasting mode. This means that the body burns fat even without exercise (though exercise is always a good addition to a wellness plan).
Like many lifestyle changes like this is not a one-and-done solution and will need to be repeated occasionally. It is not a lifestyle change that is an everyday one though.
Why the Prolon Diet?
So why should you even consider the Prolon diet? That is the shown tons of positive logical and mental changes that come with utilizing intermittent fasting or calorie restriction. Things like reduction of inflammation and overall detoxification are all valid advantages. But before you and your physician decide that this is the right course of action understanding both eh advantages and disadvantages is key.
Here are the pros and cons:
Pros
- No meal planning is necessary
- All food is provided in the meal plan
- Tons of health benefits including reduced inflammation and detoxification
- Doesn’t require a long-term or lifestyle change
Cons
- Limited food choices
- Can be expensive
- Potential dehydration or hypoglycemia
- Not for a long-term solution
What Food Is Allowed?
The prolonged diet is broken down into five individual boxes that both the recommendations and the foods that are necessary for that particular day. combinations of this food are specific and intended to really activate the body’s built-in systems.
the curated components combine nutrients and reduced calories to create and mimic things in the body that need to be in place for it to activate that process. During this process, the body begins using the stored fat because it has less fat coming in, and for your body to run it needs that energy.
The important thing when it comes to the food and what is allowed is that the food that is within the boxes should not be mixed with one from another box. These meals are constructed in a particular fashion to ensure optimal performance.
All the foods within the diet itself are vegetarian and lactose-free as well as gluten-free. Every box comes with nutritional facts and the diet kit includes things like:
- Algal oil
- nut bars
- herbal teas
- vegetable supplements
- L- drink cancel
- Soup blends
The soups included in the meal plan can be added to with herbs and lemon juice. Other than that no other food should be added to the meal plan solely focusing on the combination of nutrients and calories within each day.
As we said the food that’s included in the meal is really the only thing you should be focusing on and so anything outside of that food other than the herbs and lemon juice should be avoided at all costs to get the most optimized results while using this diet plan.
Things You Need to Know: Some Tips for the Prolon Diet
Just like with any other diet there are always things that you need to know. Other than the basics of how the diet works and the rules that go with it there are some key takeaways and tips that we think might help you out. Here are some of the most important things to know when dealing with the pro lawn diet:
- If you are dealing with a fever or cough it’s best not to start the diet until you have dealt with that health issue.
- Someone who is dealing with an infection or at risk of reoccurring infections should not do this diet.
- Women who are pregnant, or breastfeeding should not fast in any way.
- Anyone who has dealt with eating disorders or other things that could be triggered by a strict dieting plan or weight management.
- This should not be a diet that is done by anyone under 18 or over 70.
- We have suggested that you be realistic and honest with yourself about what your intentions are about looking into this form of diet. Not having the right intentions could damage your health both mentally and physically and lead to poor results.
- For those that are devoted coffee drinkers this diet may cause a little bit of a caffeine withdrawal period but according to the diet plan you are allowed one 8-ounce cup of black coffee, or you can choose to get your caffeine intake with 16-ounces, black, or white tea every morning.
- Excessive exercise during this diet is restricted but you should get some movement in. This should be something you enjoy like taking a long walk or maybe getting out and playing a little bit with the kids.
- If you’re craving some spice or some flavor you may want to add a little bit to the soup packets. You can add salt, herbs, and spices (one teaspoon) a day and that can change the taste and give you variety as well.
- With the restricted calorie intake you may find that you don’t have as much energy as you normally do. This could be a good time to start getting your sleep cycle set as well. So try to go to bed early not only will that help you get more sleep and feel better, but it’ll reduce the time you have available for those cravings to hit.
Is This Diet Right For You?
This diet is crafted to be helpful in weight management for healthy adults that want to detoxify and make changes in their overall health. Though the primary goal is not losing weight you will have lost quite a bit when done the ultimate goal is to defy and set your body so that you can start making healthy lifestyle changes once the fasting is complete.
The prolonged diet is good for you almost all adults but there are a few individuals that should steer clear of the diet:
- Women who are pregnant or have recently given birth
- Individuals with a BMI done those with allergies, especially to nuts or soy
- Anybody with medical conditions including diabetes, heart disease, and cancer
- Individuals that take medication and require a certain amount of calories to be ingested every day
- People with eating disorders
Final Thoughts
Resetting your body and managing your weight can be a constant struggle for many people. This is why many people turn to different types of diets and one of them is intermittent fasting. One of the many versions of fasting is the Prolon diet.
This is a fasting-mimicking diet and there are many advantages to utilizing this in your integrative wellness treatment plan to ensure you are getting your body set for making healthy lifestyle changes to ensure a long-lasting result.