In 2016, Prolon introduced the first Fasting Mimicking Diet to the market, with an ambitious goal: to make some of the biological processes associated with Prolonged fasting more accessible through a structured, research-based nutritional program.
Today, ten years later, Prolon celebrates a journey built on scientific research, clinical studies and nutritional innovation, with a mission that remains unchanged: to help extend healthy lifespan through nutritional programs designed to support the health and well-being of the body from within.
Over the past ten years, research into the Fasting Mimicking Diet has continued to evolve, moving from the exploration of the biological mechanisms of fasting to the study of its potential effects on metabolism, body composition, biological aging and cellular processes such as autophagy.
This anniversary is therefore an opportunity to look back at 10 years of Prolon and research into longevity.
2016: Prolon is born and fasting becomes “fasting mimicking”
2016 marks the starting point of Prolon’s story.
The idea behind the Fasting Mimicking Diet emerged from research led by Professor Valter Longo, with the goal of developing a nutritional protocol that could provide nutrients in specific amounts and combinations while attempting to reproduce some of the physiological conditions associated with Prolonged fasting.
This led to the creation of Prolon, a 5-day Fasting Mimicking Diet program that provides specially formulated foods throughout the program rather than requiring complete fasting. The program was developed specifically to make this approach more structured and accessible.
The concept is innovative: it is not simply about eating less, but about using a nutritional formulation designed to modulate energy and nutrient intake over the five days of the program.
This is the principle behind the Fasting Mimicking Diet.
2017: research expands its focus to aging and metabolic health
The second year marked an important development in research.
Studies began to show that cycles of the Fasting Mimicking Diet could influence various markers associated with aging and metabolic health, as well as risk factors linked to chronic conditions.
Scientific interest therefore shifted from an initial question — is it possible to mimic some of the effects of fasting through nutrition? — toward a much broader one:
how can periodic nutrition influence the biological processes involved in aging?
It is a question that has continued to guide research in the years since and remains one of the pillars of the Prolon approach today.
2020: Prolon expands its fasting-focused nutrition
In 2020, research into fasting-related nutrition led to the development of new products.
Fasting Bars® and Fasting Shake became part of the Prolon family, designed to support intermittent fasting strategies and make it easier to incorporate some principles of longevity-focused nutrition into everyday life.
The goal therefore became broader: not to focus exclusively on the five days of the Fasting Mimicking Diet, but to develop nutritional solutions that could support different stages of a lifestyle focused on long-term health.
2021: new evidence on metabolic health
In 2021, research also turned its attention to people with metabolic health challenges.
Clinical studies conducted under medical supervision in populations of patients with diabetes reported interesting findings associated with a low-glycemic Fasting Mimicking Diet, including changes in glycated hemoglobin (A1C), body weight and medication use.
These findings helped reinforce a fundamental concept in longevity research: healthy aging cannot be separated from metabolic health.
Metabolism, body composition, inflammation and cellular processes are closely interconnected systems.
For this reason, Prolon views longevity not simply as the goal of living longer, but as the possibility of living longer in good health.
2022: from metabolic health to neuromuscular function
In 2022, research expanded its focus even further.
The Fasting Mimicking Diet was also studied in relation to neuromuscular function, adding another piece to the understanding of the potential effects of periodic FMD cycles on the body.
That same year, the medical division of L-Nutra was established, marking another step toward the development of research-based nutritional programs focused on health.
This evolution is significant: the Fasting Mimicking Diet was no longer being considered solely within the field of nutrition, but as part of a broader approach to research into aging and health throughout the lifespan.
2023: skin, body composition and cardiovascular health
2023 brought new evidence across several areas.
Research explored the effects of the Fasting Mimicking Diet on skin health, observing improvements related to hydration, radiance, skin tone evenness and smoothness.
At the same time, attention returned to key areas of longevity research: cardiovascular health, body weight, visceral fat and the preservation of lean mass.
Studies conducted on Fasting Mimicking Diet cycles reported favorable changes in body composition, including reductions in visceral fat and a greater ability to preserve lean mass compared with certain dietary approaches used for comparison.
These findings reinforce one of the most interesting aspects of the Prolon approach: the goal is not simply to reduce the number on the scale, but to consider the quality of body composition.
2024: biological age enters Fasting Mimicking Diet research
In 2024, a particularly relevant finding emerged in aging research.
One study observed that, after three consecutive Prolon cycles, the median biological age score decreased by approximately 2.5 years, together with other changes associated with metabolic health, liver fat and immune profile.
It is important to distinguish biological age from chronological age: these are measures that aim to describe the physiological state of the body through specific biomarkers and do not mean that a person has literally “become 2.5 years younger.”
The finding is nevertheless interesting because it moves research further toward a central question in the science of longevity:
is it possible to influence the biological processes associated with aging through periodic nutritional interventions?
Research continues to explore this possibility.
2025: Prolon and research into autophagy in humans
In 2025, another important milestone was reached.
A study conducted by researchers at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and UT Health San Antonio, in collaboration with L-Nutra, directly examined molecular signals of autophagy in people following the Fasting Mimicking Diet. The results provided direct evidence of autophagy activation in humans during the protocol studied.
Autophagy is a natural process through which cells break down and recycle damaged or unnecessary cellular components. It is one of the biological mechanisms most widely studied in the context of aging and cellular health.
The significance of this research lies above all in the fact that, for the first time, molecular signals consistent with autophagy activation were directly measured in people following a Fasting Mimicking Diet.
The study involved 30 healthy adults and used molecular analyses to assess the autophagy process in immune cells. The researchers themselves nevertheless emphasized the need for further studies to expand and confirm these findings.
It is a concrete example of how, over the years, research into the Fasting Mimicking Diet has moved from observing metabolic changes toward an increasingly detailed study of cellular mechanisms.
10 years of research: what makes the Prolon approach different?
Looking at Prolon’s history means looking above all at the research that has accompanied its development.
The difference does not lie solely in the product, but in the approach to nutrition.
Nutrition designed around research
The Fasting Mimicking Diet was not developed as a generic low-calorie diet.
The program was designed around a precise combination of macronutrients and micronutrients, with the goal of nourishing the body while at the same time attempting to maintain some of the metabolic characteristics associated with the fasting state.
More than 25 years of research
At the foundation of the Prolon approach are more than 25 years of research into longevity, more than 40 clinical studies according to company data, and collaborations with numerous academic institutions.
The Prolon website currently also reports 47 clinical studies and more than 1 million programs completed worldwide.
This scientific background is particularly important in a field such as longevity, where it is essential to distinguish between claims supported by evidence and simple commercial promises.
From research to everyday experience
Another distinguishing feature is the goal of turning nutritional research into programs that can be used in everyday life.
Prolon is a five-day structured nutritional program, with foods and quantities already defined, designed to reduce the need to plan each meal independently throughout the program.
The goal is to make it easier to follow a complex nutritional protocol without turning it into an additional challenge in everyday life.
Prolon’s mission: live longer, but above all, live better
After ten years, the mission remains the same:
to extend healthy human lifespan through science-based nutritional programs.
This vision starts from a fundamental premise: longevity should not be measured solely in years.
The real challenge is to increase the number of years lived in good health, while supporting the body’s function, metabolic health and the biological processes involved in aging over time.
For this reason, Prolon research continues to focus on different aspects of health, from body composition and biological aging to cellular mechanisms.
An opportunity to discover the Prolon approach to the Fasting Mimicking Diet and longevity-focused nutrition more closely.
Discover Prolon and start your journey toward healthy aging.
