Fasting Mimicking Diet and Diabetes

Diabetic kidney disease is the leading cause of end-stage kidney complication in people with diabetes.

Investigators from the Heidelberg University Hospital in Germany published a study in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism showing that the fasting mimicking diet (FMD) improves microalbuminuria, markers of insulin resistance, lipid oxidation, and senescence, suggesting potential beneficial effects in type 2 diabetes.

The investigators explored for the first time in a randomized controlled design the clinical impact of FMD in type 2 diabetes patients. They showed that FMD is safe and well tolerated when accompanied by intensive diabetes care.

The study recruited 40 volunteers with type 2 diabetes who had protein in their urine (a sign of kidney disease).

The group who used the five-day FMD per month for six consecutive months had significant reductions in their urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio (UACR) compared with patients on a control, five-day Mediterranean Diet.

After six months, FMD led to significant reductions in body weight of 22 pounds, 1.4% decrease of haemoglobin A1C, and 59% improvement in HOMA-IR, a marker of insulin resistance.

At the study's end, antihyperglycemic medication was reduced in 67% of participants in the FMD group compared to baseline. In contrast, 21% of the participants of the Mediterranean Diet group had to increase their antihyperglycemic medication (Sulaj et al. 2022).