Anti-Aging and Recovery with the Fasting Mimicking Diet
- DRBrooksRN
- Sep 29
- 7 min read
With all the fall races going on, let's take a look at a wellness and recovery protocol I use that goes beyond what you will find here in our wellness studio. I am giving you a look at one of my recovery methods that I have been using for over a year now, and I find that it is a great reset for me. This is not meant as a prescription for recovery for you, but I want to share what I did last week to help me recover from a 50 mile race attempt and a back injury that I had going into that race. To say that I used contrast therapy and compression going into and coming out of that race is a given. However, my present concern was another 40 mile race coming up in 5 weeks. Was this possible? How am I going to recover and be able to run uninjured in this short amount of time?
I was first introduced to the Fasting Mimicking Diet (FMD) almost two years ago when I was teaching an online class on intermittent fasting. I was doing research and came upon a book by Valter Longo PhD from the University of Southern California and Milan. He has done extensive research with this type of diet and cancer patients, but what I found fascinating was the benefits of cleaning out inflammation and that the body does this naturally during the FMD process. If this research interests you, you may follow this link to the book I read that I have since incorporated into my recovery : The Longevity Diet by Valter Longo, PhD
After my DNF on Saturday, I continued to eat what I wanted, trying to replace electrolytes, fluids, and carbs from over 25 miles and 4200 ft of elevation. In addition, my body was stressed because of the back pain, and that stress requires more nutrition. On Sunday, I continued to eat what I wanted, and did some compression and contrast therapy. This little diary gives you an idea how I managed my reduced calorie load this past week.
Day 1 - Fasting Mimicking
My goal was approximately 1100 calories. I had tea, coffee, half a protein bar, fruit, and a huge salad. I also drank water with electrolytes, vegetable broth, water, and sparkling water. I did compression, contrast therapy, and I was able to take my dog Jack for about a mile walk with a little running.
Day 2 - Fasting Mimicking
My goal was 800 calories with water and electrolytes, tea, coffee, fruit, half a protein bar, and a salad. I included a morning walk with Jack, a few mobility exercises, and an evening club run where I was able to run over a mile and a half with virtually no pain or stiffness. I also slept well after Day 1 without any of my usual night-time routine, no melatonin, no Ashwaganda, and over 10 hours of sleep.
Day 3 - Fasting Mimicking
Again, approximately 800 calories, lots of water, electrolytes, tea, coffee, fruit, protein bar, and a salad. It was an early work day, so I was up at 5 am, and had slept over 7 hours last night pretty well with no night-time supplements. I did use some compression, sauna, and cold plunge and had a 5 mile trail club run, for which I did eat an additional amount to equate for what I normally burn off in a 5 mile run.
Day 4 - Fasting Mimicking
800 calories, water, electrolytes, tea, coffee, fruit, protein bar, and a salad. I woke up today having slept fairly well, but feeling a little flu-like. When you detox and your body lets go of the buildup of cellular breakdowns that occur naturally when you exercise, experience stress, and are exposed to the toxins in our environment, you have to clear them. We need to make sure we are eliminating wastes properly, that we are drinking enough water, and that we are having normal bowel movements. Drinking more water today helped me feel better and get rid of what we call the "detox flu" later in the day. I also did some compression and contrast therapy, but the fasting part was tough today. I was beginning to feel hungry.
Day 5 - Fasting Mimicking
I didn't sleep as well as I had the past few nights and woke up at 2:30 am. I had a spoon of natural peanut butter and made up some OM brand (Ashwaganda) hot chocolate. It still was difficult getting back to sleep but I concentrated on the fact that I had virtually no pain. As someone who deals with ongoing chronic pain, this is a game changer. I do not take any Tylenol or Advil, and haven't for the past few years. I do take herbal supplements that work extremely well when I am dealing with pain. Despite the lack of sleep, I was able to get up and get to work because there is something exciting about being on Day 5, knowing I have reset my body. I am actually looking forward to getting up tomorrow and having a huge bowl of oatmeal with nuts and fruit, plant-based protein shakes, and huge salads with garbanzo beans. Today will close out a week of recovery and tomorrow, I will pick up my Garmin and begin getting ready for a 40 mile race in 4 weeks.
Why it works?
Everything in me in my 30+ years of nursing and fitness studies had me believing that going into starvation mode will decrease my metabolism, ruining it for life. I thought for sure my body will consume important cardiac muscle. I believed that as an athlete, this diet would only negatively affect my muscle mass and strength. I have heard and read them all. However, research shows that a periodic (recommended not more frequent than monthly) low-protein/sugar diet may actually help generate new muscles cells. The current belief is that the new muscle cells have more to do with strength than the actual size of the muscle.
In studies with mice with autoimmune disease, it was found that using the FMD, they saw reduction in the number of autoimmune cells and at the same time, they saw the regeneration of damaged tissue. During the fasting, the body does this wonderful thing called autophagy, where it cleans out the inside of cells, killing off and replacing the cells that are damaged. It brings regeneration. During FMD, it was found in humans as well as in mice, that there is a varying elevation to over twice as many stem cells within the blood circulation. You can imagine that after a period of time, whether we ran or biked a long distance, or just from living in a world surrounded by toxins, we all build up damaged cells and could benefit from a good clean-out of sick cells and a periodic rise in stem cells meaning overall improved health throughout. This is where the anti-aging benefit comes from as aging is influenced by the processes that occur in our cells as they age and become stagnant. They literally call these cells "Zombie" cells. As the FMD cleans out and gets rid of these Zombie cells, we experience some of that anti-aging effect.
As the FMD progresses over the 5 days, you can be sure that you will lose some weight, much is from the added fluid that we carry and from inflammation. The usual weight loss is approximately 5-8 pounds. Some of this will come back, and if you maintain better nutrition and balance your intake with your energy burning, you may maintain some of this loss.
There is so much more to the FMD, and I wish there was more time and space because it truly could be a separate workshop. If you have interest in learning more about the FMD, please check out the resource above.
The Takeaway
I have always hesitated sharing my recovery journey because I do believe it is different for every person. It is also a pretty huge undertaking and you have to have a certain level of commitment for a 5-day low calorie fast. There are also some contraindications, such as if you have diabetes or you are on insulin or medications for your blood sugar. Pregnant women, those who are underweight, adults over 70 years of age, those who are fragile, those with kidney or liver disease or serious illness, should all work with their physician prior to changing their diet.
I do want to emphasize that if you have a very active weekend, whether it is a marathon, or a family hike, if you are sore and out of commission for more than a day or two, I encourage you to look at various recovery methods. Try something new. I will never forget the day that I had an epiphany about the infrared sauna and how it affects my chronic pain. I realized that I had been getting out of bed, hobbling my way to the location where I would sit in the sauna for 45 minutes, and them bound back up the stairs like there was no issue. The day I realized that "hey, there is something here" became the day I began to look into the possibility of opening my own recovery studio and offering those in my community the same truly awesome and beautiful experience of at least a few hours of less pain, more flexibility, the effects of a cardiovascular workout without the muscle pain and fatigue, and so much more. The sauna also helps sweat out those toxins and improves the detox pathways by improving your cardiovascular function which allows your body to move toxins out of your body through your kidneys, bowels, and skin.
Please reach out if you have any questions, I love talking recovery. It is part of the training!
Open Hours!
Monday 6 am - 4 pm
Tuesday 11 am - 8 pm
Wednesday 6 am - 4 pm
Thursday 11 am - 8 pm
Friday 6 am - 4 pm
Saturday 11 am - 4 pm
Sunday CLOSED
What did our clients say last week?
"I feel amazing"
"I fell asleep in the sauna"
"I fell asleep during compression"
"That (the compression) was so relaxing"
"I had to go to Trader Joe's after and I realized that people didn't" (bug me like they usually do) - yes I had to clean that up a bit.
What will you be saying next week?
"I feel amazing"
OR
"I should have come in"
NEXT WEEK...
Next week, I will go through some recovery protocols that have been published by sports medicine professionals. Be sure to stay tuned to find out how you can utilize our beautiful new studio to aid in your fall training recovery, or simply to just add relaxation and wellness to your daily routine.
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