American scientists from the University of Southern California investigated the effects of therapeutic fasting by testing a low-calorie diet (FMD) in mice. According to their findings, people with diabetes should restrict their daily diet for at least five days a month. On the first day, they are allowed to consume only 1,090 calories, and for the next four days, they need to limit themselves to only 725 calories per day.
In any case, diabetic mice, "planted" on a lean diet for 4 days a week, showed the restoration of insulin production by the pancreas to the level of healthy mice. They also had decreased insulin resistance, and the mice showed stable blood glucose levels even in the later stages of the disease.
The researchers found that in adult mice with diabetes, when they were kept on a low-calorie diet, genes normally active in the pancreatic cells of mouse embryos were activated. This increased the production of a key protein and promoted the creation of new, healthy insulin-producing cells.
A study of pancreatic cell cultures from human donors showed that fasting-mimicking nutrients also increased insulin production in the cells of type 1 diabetes patients. These results suggest that switching to a low-calorie diet from time to time can alleviate the disease in people with both type 1 and type 2 diabetes.
Professor Walter Longo, who led the study, hoped that people with diabetes could one day be treated with a simple fast, sticking to it for just a few days each month. The rest of the time you can eat as usual, while getting positive results, which include normal