Are Fasting Mimicking Diets Worth It In Midlife?

Anything But Mid is hosted by Amy Edwards and Whitney Stropp. Neither host is a doctor and nothing here is medical advice. Lightly cleaned for readability.

Whitney: Oh! I'm Whitney.

Amy: And I'm Amy, and this is midlife, but you're anything but mid.

Whitney: Mhm. Okay. We're going to tell you all about it.

Amy: Yeah. You have a mid moment?

Whitney: I did. I'm all fired up because I had to give myself a little come to Jesus talk

Amy: Oh shit.

Whitney: about old patterns.

Amy: Oh shit.

Whitney: And I just looked at myself in the mirror, and I'm like, you're a grown-ass woman. What are you doing? You know this pattern doesn't work for you. You are aware that you're walking into the pattern as you're doing it, and yet you're just continuing to go down this path that does not serve you. And I'm done. I'm done with you, lady.

Amy: Old patterns die hard. I know.

Whitney: I'm done. It is so hard.

Amy: It's a practice.

Whitney: Yes.

Amy: Yes. I always say that.

Whitney: And but it doesn't serve me well, these old patterns. And I am an adult.

Amy: Almost never.

Whitney: I am not a child. I know that they're not working.

Amy: I know.

Whitney: So this is just a wake-up call for all of you out there. You're a grown-ass man or woman. What are you doing? You're capable. You're smart. You understand that you have this old pattern and it is not serving you. It is keeping you in a mid life.

Amy: Why?

Whitney: And I'm done with it.

Amy: Oh, my.

Whitney: I'm done with it.

Amy: Wow.

Whitney: I gave myself quite a talking to.

Amy: I'm glad. I love it.

Whitney: Yeah. So that was my it was a good mid moment cuz I was like, what are you doing? You're fucking 55.

Amy: Yeah.

Whitney: Yeah. Grow up.

Amy: Isn't it weird that we have like voices in our head like we can talk to each other?

Whitney: Yeah.

Amy: Like

Whitney: Well, that's because

Amy: like, what are you doing?

Whitney: as Michael Singer says, "You're not the voice."

Amy: Right.

Whitney: "You're the one listening."

Amy: That's He's so right. Oh, I love that.

Whitney: That gives me such chills every time.

Amy: Me too.

Whitney: I'm not the voice in my head. I'm the one listening.

Amy: You're the one listening.

Whitney: Yeah.

Amy: Yep. Although, who was talking though? That was you.

Whitney: Your ego.

Amy: No.

Whitney: You, your spirit, your soul.

Amy: Who was the one saying, "You know better?"

Whitney: Oh, I see what you're saying. Oh, good point.

Amy: Mhm. Mind blown. That might have been your soul. Well, my mid moment was I went to get gas, and I completely forgot my pin number. A pin number I have had for Oh. I don't know, 15 years?

Whitney: Oh no. I hate that stuff.

Amy: It was disturbing to the point where I just stood there like, can I really not think of this? And I couldn't. I got back in my car and I just sat there. I thought, well, I can pay with a credit card. And then I was just like, could it be this one thing? And then I went and I tried, and it was. So I got

Whitney: Isn't it crazy that even after you thought you might have thought of it, it didn't sound familiar?

Amy: It didn't sound right.

Whitney: It's like I remember long ago, before midlife, you would write down a word and sometimes it just didn't look right. It was like "arm." It's only three letters, and you're like, is that how you spell arm? It doesn't look right.

Amy: It doesn't look right.

Whitney: Yeah.

Amy: I know.

Whitney: Oh man, I hate that. At least it was just your pin and not like your, you know, good friend's name, which just happened to me.

Amy: At least too wasn't Yeah, true. At least it too wasn't like somewhere where there was someone checking me out. You know, like I was glad to be alone at the time.

Whitney: Right. Right. I am just envisioning you standing there with that sad look on your face. And then just kind of in a daze, walking back to your car being like, can I really not think of this?

Amy: Yeah. I'll just hop I'll get back in.

Whitney: Ugh, it's so frustrating.

Amy: I It was It was It scares me, too, cuz I'm like, do I have early onset Alzheimer's,

Whitney: Yeah.

Amy: you know, or something like that? Like why can't I retrieve that? I know it's in my brain, why can't I retrieve that?

Whitney: I know. I know.

Amy: And I knew it 5 minutes ago.

Whitney: Yeah, I knew it yesterday.

Amy: Yeah.

Whitney: Yeah, I know. And then we're doing HRT, so the whole hormone thing shouldn't really be an issue. You shouldn't be having these problems.

Amy: I know.

Whitney: I'm getting my Pap smear on Thursday and

Amy: My God, I'm overdue.

Whitney: Oh, really? Well, guess what? I just saw something on Instagram, I think. They're You now can give yourself your own Pap smear at home.

Amy: Ah.

Whitney: I just saw an advertisement for that. Eh. It's just like something that has a little like cup sponge or something on the end of it, and you just stick it up there, swab it around, and then mail it in.

Amy: Whoa. That's fabulous.

Whitney: Yeah, but I'm going to go in and have a talk with her.

Amy: That's Okay. What? Break old patterns there, too?

Whitney: I mean just like, why Why am I on this HRT and yet I can't remember my pin number or my, you know, best friend's name

Amy: Yeah.

Whitney: in the moment, you know?

Amy: Really disturbing. Anyway, there's so many things that could be factors, but anyway, which we're going to talk about one today. So I'm doing an intermittent fast.

Whitney: Yeah.

Amy: No, not an intermittent fast, I'm doing a fasting-mimicking.

Whitney: Oh, okay.

Amy: And Come on! Case in point, let me just prove my point. I'm doing fasting-mimicking.

Whitney: Okay.

Amy: So, yeah.

Whitney: So you're not really fasting, but you're doing things that make your body think you're fasting.

Amy: Precisely. It triggers the same

Whitney: Okay.

Amy: good effects that you want from like water fasting.

Whitney: Okay, which I looked into recently, so I can't wait to hear about it. Yeah.

Amy: Well, I think you mentioned that. So I want to I want to talk about that and this. And like, I don't know if I could go 3 days with just water. I don't know. I don't know. I've never tried. Have you tried?

Whitney: Yes. I haven't tried, and the truth is we could do it, we just don't really want to do it. Like I could do if I was

Amy: Yeah.

Whitney: I could If somebody said, "We're going to kill your mom if you don't do this water fast for 3 days," I would 100% do it.

Amy: Yeah. Oh, it's true. Yeah.

Whitney: It's just your will. Your I I really don't have the will.

Amy: Yeah. The will, it's the will. Yeah. And also, I feel like finding the time to do it is also tricky, because you've got trips, you've got

Whitney: Yeah.

Amy: friends that want to see you, you've got, you know, maybe your kids

Whitney: You've got a Pap smear. Yeah.

Amy: Whatever. Yeah. You've got like life. And so even just finding 5 days for me to do this like fasting-mimicking was kind of challenging. But this is my

Whitney: So have you completed it?

Amy: No, I'm on day 3 actually, right now. I'm I'm I'm in the middle of it, so we'll talk about it. So

Whitney: Oh, okay. Okay.

Amy: let's just address a little bit of fasting. So let's get into it. So as I said, intermittent fasting, right? Like which is when people don't eat from, you know, 6:00 p.m. to 12:00

Whitney: Yeah, it's like 12 hour. Yeah, yeah.

Amy: the next day or something.

Whitney: And it actually does work. I have friends who have done that and lost a lot of weight. But I think you already have you have to have some weight to lose.

Amy: Mhm. Yes. You know what, I'm going to address that, too, as we talk about this. So yeah, it can help. It says it can help reduce belly fat and improve insulin sensitivity, and but I think it's really kind of better for men, from what I've read. And

Whitney: Mhm.

Amy: because the fasting windows can spike cortisol and stress your hormonal system, which is not good for many women in perimenopause and menopause. Gentle, time-restricted eating works better than like extreme fasting, too, they say. So like it can just fuck us up and spike our cortisol, and even intermittent can do that, too.

Whitney: No. Yeah. And my next episode is on cortisol, so

Amy: Oh shit. I can't wait. I can't wait.

Whitney: Yeah. Oh shit.

Amy: Oh shit. Oh shit. You know what? Take a peak at or Well, anyway. Okay. So

Whitney: Are we such in sync? Go ahead. Tell me and

Amy: No, no, no, no, no. I want to go on. So, yeah, it can worsen your sleep and anxiety, and then you want to eat more. It's just like this like

Whitney: Okay. cycle like yeah, a domino effect.

Amy: Yeah. It can also slow down our thyroid if we're not careful. Strict calorie scarcity can down-regulate thyroid function. I can't have that.

Whitney: Oh.

Amy: So muscle loss, too, is a big concern, especially with the water fasting.

Whitney: Sure. That's with any weight loss program.

Amy: Totally.

Whitney: You have to be doing your strength training cuz muscle burns fat. It's part of it.

Amy: Yeah. Yeah. And and fasting combined with low protein can accelerate lean mass breakdown. Like you're eating your own muscles and you don't want that.

Whitney: Mhm. Yeah, your muscles. No.

Amy: Water fasting or that old crazy one, the Master Cleanse, I don't know if you remember that.

Whitney: I do remember the Master Cleanse.

Amy: Yes. Maple syrup, cayenne, and lemon.

Whitney: Yes. Yes.

Amy: Yeah. So that was a big thing, too. There's no It said it it pulls out the toxins and all this, but from what I researched, and remember, this is only my own research, guys, this is from the internet and we're not experts and we're going to make mistakes.

Whitney: Was it We're not doctors.

Amy: We're not doctors. We're not scientists.

Whitney: And we're not scientists.

Amy: So there's no evidence to say that even toxins build up in a healthy person, really, and there's no evidence that detox diets remove these toxins.

Whitney: What? Hold on. Did you say there's no real

Amy: Is that wrong?

Whitney: research I don't know, I'm saying is you're saying in your research that it's saying there's no real toxic buildup?

Amy: They're saying all these toxins I've read that all this toxin shit is is bullshit.

Whitney: Wow. You know what? I I There's a part of me that can get on board with that because it's a moneymaking machine.

Amy: Justin was convinced he had tons of toxins in his gut and stuff.

Whitney: And then you do the sauna, and the cold plunge, and all that.

Amy: Well, we tested his his gut.

Whitney: Oh, yeah.

Amy: He didn't. He didn't. He didn't have any, cuz he's traveled to Africa and all this stuff like over the years and had so many problems. And like, his was like neutral. He didn't have like good bacteria, bad bacteria, but he wasn't even testing like there was no toxins or so.

Whitney: He didn't. Sure. Sure. Right. Well, look, I believe it cuz especially the more research we do and the things we talk about, our body is a an incredible

Amy: machine

Whitney: machine that all works together and knows what to do. It My body knows what to do

Amy: Yeah. If we feed it right. Like we've got to do the right things, yeah.

Whitney: if we feed it right. But then, that's the whole other thing, then but then the food is crappy, and uh.

Amy: Right. Then we get into inflammation.

Whitney: We all need to move to Wales and live with Sting and Trudie.

Amy: Move to Oh, I thought we you were saying move with whales, like live with whales. I was like, what?

Whitney: Oh. Well, that would also work.

Amy: Do they like grow their own food and stuff?

Whitney: Yeah, they grow their own food, and they do yoga, and he sings with his guitar, and It's utopia.

Amy: Yeah, I don't know. If someone's singing to me and it's Sting, okay. You don't want just some average dude, okay?

Whitney: Oh, please. No.

Amy: Anyway, all right, let's move on.

Whitney: Okay.

Amy: So, yeah, the the they there's just not a lot to back up like Master Cleanse and all that kind of stuff with toxins. So I just wanted to address that if we were thinking about, you know, different types of fasting.

Whitney: Right. Sure. Sure.

Amy: So Master Cleanse can put you at risk for nutritional deficiencies, too, increase stress hormones, those other things that we were talking about. You can also get dehydrated with both the water and Master Cleanse because you lose electrolytes.

Whitney: You need electrolytes. Yes, people forget.

Amy: Electrolytes, we don't want that.

Whitney: Yeah, water alone is not going to help you rehydrate. You have to get the electrolytes.

Amy: It's so weird to me, but okay. Like that is just weird.

Whitney: I know. Mhm. Well, that's cuz we have bottled water now. Back in the day, you just did your tap water or whatever. It wasn't like

Amy: Right.

Whitney: supposed to be healthy. I don't know. Anyway, all right. Keep going. I'm sorry. I keep interrupting you.

Amy: I don't know. It's barely getting by with a with a water fountain at school, you know?

Whitney: Yeah, right? Now kids have a whole water bottle, I'm like

Amy: Now kids have a whole water bottle. I'm like, we were just dehydrated all the time. Okay. So I interviewed Renee Fitton, MS, RDN. She was the she is the vice president of growth at L-Nutra and a prominent longevity dietitian for the ProLon Fasting Mimicking Diet, right?

Whitney: Okay.

Amy: So I did this year a couple years ago. And of course, what did I do? I was like, "Sold. I'll take it," cuz you know she's like convincing me of everything. So this is not an ad for that, this podcast we're doing right now. Basically, I wanted to verify some things that she had told me, and I have done two of these fasting-mimicking programs from ProLon that are 5 days each.

Whitney: Yeah. Yeah.

Amy: And so,

Whitney: Oh, so you've done this twice?

Amy: I did it I've done it twice last year, and I'm going to tell you what the difference is with fasting-mimicking between that and actual fasting.

Whitney: Okay.

Amy: And and do we do we believe it? And I'm sitting here doing it right now, and I'll tell you why.

Whitney: For a third time, so I feel like

Amy: I did it twice last year like before the wedding. I wanted to do three, but I just couldn't gear up, I couldn't get my shit together. We were traveling. I just didn't have a 5-day window.

Whitney: Yeah.

Amy: Sure. Sure. And that's that's the trick, right? Like Justin's in Uganda right now, I'm like, I can do this right now, so I'm doing it. And I'm going to have a birthday soon, so I'm like, I'll I'll feel really good.

Whitney: Yeah. Yeah, I'm going to get rid of all those fake toxins.

Amy: It's not about the toxins. I'm going to tell you what it is about. Okay. So So we'll back up a bit. So this came along, this idea of fasting-mimicking and like having some foods that will trigger the things that you want from the University of Southern California is a guy named Dr. Valter Valter Longo.

Whitney: Okay.

Amy: And I don't know, he sounds like a He sounds like a vampire.

Whitney: Yeah, right?

Amy: Okay. So he's the director of the Longevity Institute at USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology in Los Angeles. It's one of the leading centers for You're going to like this. Leading centers for research on aging and age-related disease.

Whitney: Yes.

Amy: He's the author of The Longevity Diet and which is about fasting-mimicking. And the USC Longevity Institute brings together multidisciplinary aging research in order to enhance human health span.

Whitney: Oh, wow.

Amy: We love it. We love it. Okay. So he has founded L-Nutra. That is the parent company of this fasting-mimicking diet.

Whitney: Okay. We keep pointing over here cuz it's right here.

Amy: Oh, I Yeah. Yeah, there's a box of it sitting over here, so I am pointing at it. So he he's said he's been studying this for 25 years and has done 40 over 40 clinical trials, has had $48 million in funding and been validated by research with 18 institutions like Stanford, Mayo Clinic,

Whitney: Yeah.

Amy: like, you know, the big hitters.

Whitney: Yes.

Amy: Right, we've heard of all these people, okay. So they have a shit ton of science on their website, too, which I like, right? And it's at prolonlife.com, and then you can click on the science. And like a long, long list of things that you can refer to, so I like that. I'm not going to get all into that, okay?

Whitney: Yes. Right.

Amy: The whole point of fasting-mimicking and fasting is to trigger autophagy, right? We're not focusing on the calorie deficit and the weight loss of it. Yes, it does help get rid of visceral fat, which we don't want visceral fat.

Whitney: Right. That's the fat around like your organs and stuff.

Amy: Like Yes.

Whitney: Do not want that.

Amy: Yes. A-plus for you today.

Whitney: Thank you.

Amy: But what we're really focusing on is autophagy, and it kicks in autophagy.

Whitney: Which is the mitochondria energy or something?

Amy: No, not exactly.

Whitney: Okay. Dang.

Amy: So I'm about to tell you. But okay, my pants were tight, so that was partly why I was doing it, because like I felt like I was inflamed. I felt like a like last week, I've been eating like shit. I feel like

Whitney: Yeah.

Amy: I was just eating whatever and I just was like, I can't

Whitney: Chips.

Amy: Chips, you know me and chips. And like I just I felt gross, and my pants were tight, and I didn't want to step on the scale. Always a good indicator where I'm like, I don't want to know.

Whitney: Yeah. Always. I don't want to.

Amy: And sure enough, I've gained about 7 or 8 lb, and I was like, I don't like this. So

Whitney: Yes.

Amy: that was a big reason why I knew I needed to kick start something, but also, I remember how good I felt after I've done it, and I really believe this is

Whitney: Energy-wise, and and clear Yeah. Okay.

Amy: Energy, everything. We're going to And we're going to talk about all those results. Autophagy means self-eating, so it's your body's natural, like you were saying, we have these systems. This is a system of natural cellular recycling and quality control of our cells. Cells basically break down anything that's damaged and then repurpose the usable materials for energy. So they like eat it, use it for energy, and make new cell components.

Whitney: Yes. Mhm. Okay.

Amy: Love that.

Whitney: Yes.

Amy: So autophagy when you're fasting, the first 12 to 16 hours, you get a little like low-level autophagy. Like you're using glycogen, liver sugar.

Whitney: Mhm. Sure.

Amy: You're using Sure,

Whitney: Yeah.

Amy: stored

Whitney: Liver sugar, let's just call it that.

Amy: God, I cannot talk.

Whitney: Those are hard words.

Amy: Glycogen.

Whitney: Those are hard words.

Amy: Yes.

Whitney: We're not scientists or doctors.

Amy: After 24 hours, autophagy markers accelerate, insulin drops, and your body goes into full fat-burning like ketosis,

Whitney: Okay.

Amy: right? We know that word. And then after 24 to 48 hours and and beyond, you get deeper and more sustained cellular recycling. And that's like

Whitney: So you're sluffing off those zombie cells that they talk about.

Amy: Yeah.

Whitney: Okay.

Amy: Yeah, exactly.

Whitney: Getting rid of all that dead weight.

Amy: Yes, yes, yes. So we have cellular debris that builds up, which is the root cause of premature aging and metabolic decline.

Whitney: Yes.

Amy: Autophagy is the cellular clean up for that, and its discovery earned a Nobel Prize in Medicine in 2016.

Whitney: Oh.

Amy: I didn't know this. From Japanese cell biologist Yoshinori Ohsumi.

Whitney: Okay.

Amy: I did practice that.

Whitney: Yoshi.

Amy: Okay. So, as I said, this is not an ad. I was honestly curious, and so are you.

Whitney: Yes, I'm very curious.

Amy: I did it twice last year. It's a 5-day thing.

Whitney: I already know I'm going to do it.

Amy: I mean, really, I I think you

Whitney: Even though I don't know how it's going to end, you're doing it for the third time, so I feel like

Amy: Right.

Whitney: and it's all in a in a box and like no thinking. Yeah, that's what I like. Just tell me what to do. All right.

Amy: They make it easy. They make it easy. Yes, exactly, right? Like So I did feel amazing after, and so I needed to know more. So it is called a Fasting Mimicking Diet, so this guy, Valter Longo, just made this so you wouldn't operate in a full-calorie deficit.

Whitney: Mhm.

Amy: So it's primarily so he talks about it in his book, and I think you can do it yourself. You don't have to have that You don't have to buy the box of it if you want, but

Whitney: Yeah.

Amy: But, yeah. So it's primarily plant-based and designed to produce fasting-like effects in the body for targeting blood glucose, ketone levels, and other biological markers. Unlike traditional fasting, which restricts almost all eating and drinking with the exception of water and certain other liquids, this fasting-mimicking permits a limited intake of specific nutrients to sustain your body and preserve muscle. That's the big thing with it, right? Like you want to preserve Okay. That's good.

Whitney: Okay. That's good. Yeah. Your body's not going to eat the muscle.

Amy: Right. The diet's set up in cycles, and like this five consecutive-day one that I'm doing, you are supposed to do this 5-day one once a month over a 3-month period, and I'm going to tell you why. I know.

Whitney: Oh God. Once a month over a 3-month period.

Amy: That's I only got through 2 months last year. I really wanted to do the 3-month cycle, but I just I could and I never made it. Okay. So first off, let's do a little bit of science. I'm not going to overwhelm you,

Whitney: Okay.

Amy: but there was a study on mice, and it was about this periodic cycles. They did they did fasting-mimicking diet on mice, those poor mice, right?

Whitney: I know.

Amy: They did it over the over 3 months, like a little cycle, and sure enough, it protected their damaged or killed their damaged cells, including cancer and autoimmune cells. It reduced inflammation. It promoted multi-system regeneration, extended their longevity. Hello? So they tested it in adults, and they didn't specify it was male or female, but they did the three cycles, once a month, right, 5 days each. It was associated You're going to love this. A decrease I wish it was more, but a decrease of 2 and 1/2 years in your biological age.

Whitney: Oh, I love it. Yes.

Amy: I knew you were going to like that.

Whitney: I do love that trying to figure out what my biological age is. I'm not 100% sure that it's real.

Amy: I Me neither. I think mine They Now the app on like my blood work and stuff will tell you, and I think mine was like I was a little disappointed. Mine was like 44 or something like that.

Whitney: But Yeah. Oh. Yeah, mine was like 11 years younger, so 55 - 11, yeah.

Amy: Yeah. That's about what mine is, yeah. Uh-huh, or 10 years or whatever. Justin's was like he couldn't believe it. They said he was like 33 or whatever, cuz I was ready I was bracing cuz he goes, "Guess what it is?" And I was like, oh no.

Whitney: Wow. Don't say 25. Oh!

Amy: And you're 40. No, he he's 39 and it was 33, so I was Oh.

Whitney: Oh, you thought it was going to be higher.

Amy: I was worried the way he said it.

Whitney: Yeah. Oh, that's funny.

Amy: And he hasn't been taking the best care of himself, so he's he's working on it.

Whitney: Men are Men are Yeah. Men aren't as good at it as women.

Amy: He's working on it. Okay. So anyway, whatever, he's doing great.

Whitney: He's great. Way to go, honey. We're proud of you.

Amy: Okay, so in adults, they were studying these cycles. 2 and 1/2 years reduced biological age, decreased abdominal fat, decreased diabetic risk, and lots more scientific, good stuff. So because fasting-mimicking may potentially speed up autophagy, and it is being studies for it studied for its effect on age-rated related diseases and cellular health.

Whitney: Okay.

Amy: So that's good.

Whitney: Yeah.

Amy: So, as I said, you can do it for yourself. It primarily includes non-starchy veggies, like celery, zucchini, tomatoes, leafy greens. I hate celery.

Whitney: Celery, I'll get back out I'll get back on my celery juice.

Amy: I couldn't even drink the celery juice. You were so into that.

Whitney: I was so into it.

Amy: I fucking hate it. Okay. So anyway, along with whole fruits, healthy fats. There's not any fruit in this, though. It restricts high-glycemic foods like, you know, white rice, white bread, that sort of thing, processed foods, dairy, all that. It's roughly 1,100 calories on day one and 800 calories day two through five. That's the standard protocol for these kits. For someone already lean like you, Whitney, you have to be careful. You might need some more calories, cuz you don't have the reserves to not lose muscle.

Whitney: Uh-huh. Yeah. I would 800 calories does not sound like it's

Amy: So it's a little bit a little bit Mhm. So you what you could do even is they have shakes and stuff that you can order like à la carte, and so you could add in like one of those to each day, and I really think that that would be fine.

Whitney: Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Amy: So you could probably consult with them, too. They have all these little like groups and stuff, so if you start it, you can consult.

Whitney: So there's no meat. There's no protein by meat. Okay.

Amy: Mhm. Which I don't eat a lot of meat, so that's totally fine with me.

Whitney: Yeah. Yeah.

Amy: It's So, would you like to open it up and check it out? Okay, so you can see it's divided up into 5 days. It's It's got little It's got a big box. I'm going to describe it while she's opening it.

Whitney: Yes. Okay. Yeah, how do I open this up?

Amy: I know, it's really hard. You have to No, it's not really hard. No, wait. Stop. Stop.

Whitney: Oh, it's a Oh, there you go.

Amy: There you go. Okay, there you go.

Whitney: Okay.

Amy: So so it's got a QR code, so you can scan the QR code then and it's got support, so you can register it and then you can get health coaching.

Whitney: Ooh, "Start here." Yeah.

Amy: So, like, great.

Whitney: And then every box every day is labeled.

Amy: Every day is labeled, so like super easy.

Whitney: Yeah, that's what I would want, no thinking.

Amy: No thinking. So she's opening up day one. It's got

Whitney: Oh, yeah. Algal oil, oh, so these are

Amy: Yeah, it's got these little pills.

Whitney: little pills, okay.

Amy: It's got these little algal oil or something, it's got something called NR-1, I don't know what that is. I should have researched it, but I didn't. It's got soups, it's got nut bars. You can do the soups as powder or they're ready to go as liquid since in the different pack.

Whitney: Yeah. All helpful. Ooh, these are yummy. Minestrone soup, I love minestrone.

Amy: I like mine I boil water, I I put the powder in, and then I use a hand blender so it makes it really fluffy, so it's more filling.

Whitney: Oh, so you don't heat it up?

Amy: Well, I use boiling water, so yeah.

Whitney: Oh, boiling water.

Amy: Mhm. So it's got olives, which is why I started eating olives. It's got little bars, which I hate the bars. They're really, really hard for me to eat because

Whitney: Fasting bar. Fasting bar. Olive oil

Amy: I hate pecans, and they have pecans in them. Olive oil packets, now those are new. So they must have needed to add in some good fat, cuz last year didn't have those.

Whitney: Yeah. And I I have everything that I read, it always says like olive oil, extra virgin olive oil like even, you know, a spoonful before you eat anything else is I can't remember why, but

Amy: Oh, yeah. One of my healthiest friends, Aaron Alexander, he if you don't know who he is, go look him up, because his body is like a Greek god. And

Whitney: Is his body a wonderland?

Amy: He Probably, yes, actually for your eyes, 100%. Sorry, I'm objectifying Aaron Alexander, but he is my friend and he's an amazing person. But he, when we go out to eat, he will literally just like eat

Whitney: "Body is a wonderland."

Amy: spoonful of olive oil.

Whitney: spoonful of olive oil, yeah. Yeah.

Amy: Yeah. So I don't feel any guilt. I douse things in olive oil all the time, and

Whitney: Bryan Johnson Yeah, it's supposed to help literally coat your you know, your intestines, your esophagus, but then it there's something else. I can't really remember, but yeah, Bryan Johnson's all about it as well. A fasting shake, is that good? Did these taste good?

Amy: Yeah. Yeah. It's not bad. That's not bad. Yeah, everything tastes good. Everything tastes good. I just don't like the the bar. I don't like the bar because I hate pecans. But everything tastes great, actually. It's all organic, and they've done a good job. And you can get different packs with different mixes of stuff.

Whitney: Little olives with sea salt. You don't like the nuts. And do they suggest like, okay, you like I guess you're eating soup in the Oh no, you do a shake in the morning?

Amy: You do the little bar.

Whitney: Oh, you do a bar, and then how often are you mixing up stuff? Like how What's the protocol during the day? Do you

Amy: Breakfast, lunch, dinner, and then

Whitney: Do you eat Any time?

Amy: And then there's a snack in the afternoon, which is like maybe the olives, but basically, you can eat it in any order you want, you just don't cross over 1 day's food to the other days. So you can eat all that in any order you want.

Whitney: So it's not like a And at any time? Like

Amy: Any time you want.

Whitney: if I wanted to, I could just eat it all in one sitting and then be done for the day?

Amy: If you If you wanted to, you could. I don't think you should. And then it has a drink in it. It has this drink not on day one, but days two through five, and it helps with electrolytes, and it's called an L-Drink. And I

Whitney: I probably wouldn't, but Ooh. Ooh, it mother So

Amy: So you basically it's a little it's a little bottle, and then it's got weight on the side. So you look at your weight and you pour it out to the degree that you weigh, and this goes up to like 280 lb. So you only drink that much, and you pour it in a big water bottle, which I've got right here, I've got a big water bottle. And so I basically poured my portion up to like 145 lb or whatever I am, and and then you fill the rest with water and you drink that throughout the day.

Whitney: Doesn't look like it would taste good. Oh. Oh, interesting. Oh, and the interesting thing is, the less you weigh, the more liquid you use.

Amy: No, the less liquid.

Whitney: No, there's a 120.

Amy: You only dump it out to there. You don't Oh.

Whitney: Only dump it out to there. Yeah. Oh yeah, that makes

Amy: So, yeah. I know, it's it's weird.

Whitney: No, that makes perfect sense. You just take it to that line. I don't know what I was thinking.

Amy: So let me just tell you, I love the L-Drink. Here's what it tastes like to me, okay?

Whitney: You do? Okay.

Amy: You know when you're out having drinks, okay? I'm sober, so I haven't had a drink in a long time, but

Whitney: Yeah. But I definitely know what you're talking about.

Amy: when you're out having drinks and you have a vodka soda and with a little squish of orange in it,

Whitney: Mhm. Oh, yeah.

Amy: which is one of my favorite drinks. The you know when it's melted at the bottom with the ice, and just you can kind of taste the flavor of the alcohol, but you drink that That's what it tastes like to me,

Whitney: Oh.

Amy: and I fucking love it. So I save my L-Drink. Like

Whitney: That's like your dessert or whatever.

Amy: It's so like cuz you have some left over and they're like, "Just discard what's left over." I'm like, "No, this is going in the fridge."

Whitney: And I I love that they have little um like, "You've got this," on the on the packages.

Amy: So I love it. Yeah, yeah, they encourage you and stuff. So, yeah. So, I'm We're not saying you have to do these boxes, but it is pretty well organized and pretty good. And

Whitney: How much is it? Just Just cut to the chase. Give it to me.

Amy: I'm about to tell you. I'm about to tell you. It starts at So and then also, you can have a little bit of green tea or black coffee in the morning with no sugar, and I

Whitney: That was going to be

Amy: have bought a slow drip like that you do with the wonderful coffee beans that I bought in Peru, and I have been drinking black

Whitney: Yeah.

Amy: coffee, which is huge for me.

Whitney: Huge.

Amy: But basically, when I did this before, it reset me with coffee. Like it did a total reset.

Whitney: You didn't need it or you didn't want it?

Amy: I didn't need it. I felt energized without it. It's really wild. I'm going to drink take a drink of my L-Drink, hold on.

Whitney: Yeah. Okay. Oh wow, let's hear it.

Amy: I'm sorry, I'm parched.

Whitney: No, I love that.

Amy: Okay, so let me see here. Okay, where were where were we? Okay. So like I said, I did it twice last year, but a month goes by quickly, so finding time is tricky. I'm I'm also careful about, you know, what my children see with me if having anything that seems like disordered eating, so I'm pretty careful about that.

Whitney: How How much is it? Oh, sure. Sure. Yeah. It is

Amy: But this Well, yeah. But this I know, it's a little different. Gigi's seen it and

Whitney: It is different, and and are you Go ahead.

Amy: Oh. Also, the crackers in it are so fucking good, I wish I had the recipe.

Whitney: Ooh, I Okay, all right.

Amy: Yeah.

Whitney: I had a question, but I just forgot. Oh, I know. How Okay, so you're on day three right now.

Amy: Oh shit. Yeah. Yeah.

Whitney: Are You You're saying oh, you want to have 5 days, but it's really not 5 days where you never leave the house, it's just 5 days where you don't have a lunch or a dinner or something like that.

Amy: Yeah.

Whitney: You have energy to leave the house.

Amy: Oh, sure. Yeah.

Whitney: You seem energetic right now.

Amy: Yeah, yesterday, I had to go, you know. Actually, I did yesterday, I could tell that I was going through something, because like in the afternoon, I had a headache. And I know when I detox from carbs, like

Whitney: Mhm.

Amy: I'll have times where I'm like, I'm eating too many chips, carbs, all that kind of stuff, and I'll just cut it out, and I will get a literal headache for like a couple days.

Whitney: Well, even caffeine, if you're used to drinking two or three cups of coffee and you can only have one.

Amy: Yeah. Yeah. Mhm. It's yeah, so I could tell

Whitney: Are you hungry?

Amy: no. Last night, before bed, I'm laying in bed and I started to fantasize about food, but um, but let's just say, too, I am taking GLP-1s,

Whitney: I was just going to ask that.

Amy: and it's helping. It's I'm I was on tirzepatide last year and I know it helps.

Whitney: I was just going to ask that. Yeah.

Amy: And so it's cutting down on food noise, so I am taking that. So

Whitney: Yes. And you're microdosing that?

Amy: Yes.

Whitney: And what does that mean? Cuz I can't remember.

Amy: Well, that means I'm taking it once a week anywhere from like .15 to .2, somewhere between there.

Whitney: Okay. Yeah. Okay.

Amy: So this week, I think I upped it to .21,

Whitney: So you could shut down that fantasizing about food.

Amy: so yeah, because I knew I was going to be fasting, so I really wanted the help. So yeah.

Whitney: Sure. But now you're on semaglutide, not tirzepatide?

Amy: No, no, tirzepatide.

Whitney: Oh.

Amy: Semaglutide makes me sick.

Whitney: Okay, that's right. That's right.

Amy: I don't take that. So yeah. And my my tirzepatide has something else in it, I need to check.

Whitney: Oh, really?

Amy: Yeah, they mix it with something else. So

Whitney: Oh. And this is all through Ways2Well, so you're getting it from a licensed doctor.

Amy: Mhm. Yes, absolutely. Yeah.

Whitney: Just Just so we let everyone know.

Amy: Yeah. Okay. So let's see. So three consecutive monthly cycles have been shown to reduce your biological age by 2 and 1/2 years, which I've said, and individual cycles support cellular rejuvenation for a variety of longevity benefits. So I'm thinking I am going to try I've still got this one and so I I

Whitney: Mhm. Yeah, you can see the food on here.

Amy: Yeah, I think I'm going to try

Whitney: It looks good.

Amy: to do 3 months in a row. I'm going to see if I can.

Whitney: Well, I wish that I would have known and we could have done it like simultaneously.

Amy: So Together? Justin keeps saying we'll do it together, that's why I have an extra one, and he won't do it.

Whitney: And then he doesn't do it. When you scan the the QR code, what are you getting? Just like a community

Amy: Yeah.

Whitney: or AI help or Okay.

Amy: No. It's an app, though. I didn't do it this time. I did it last year, but I didn't need it, whatever it was.

Whitney: But it's an app?

Amy: I feel like it was on the website.

Whitney: Okay.

Amy: Yeah. I don't I don't think it was an app, I think it was website. So simulated calculations suggest

Whitney: You already lost me.

Amy: They're guessing. They're guessing because they don't have enough data for this, okay?

Whitney: "Simulated Okay. Cuz how old is this? When did this start? Do you know?

Amy: But they're guessing This is This is all pretty Uh, maybe 5 years ago, something like that.

Whitney: Okay.

Amy: So so that's why they're saying like if you continue to do this, right, you do the three consecutive cycles and then you do it you continue to do it three or four times a year, you don't have to do that consecutive thing again.

Whitney: Right.

Amy: You continue to do it every year for three or four times, which is what Renee did when I've interviewed her, that may translate after that may translate to an 11-year biological age reduction for those ages 50 to 70.

Whitney: Woah. Wow.

Amy: So that's pretty fucking awesome. And it's because of this autophagy. It's because

Whitney: Okay. And the autophagy is removing It's basically your body is removing all those quote, unquote, "zombie cells," those dead cells that are attacking your body and and making you age.

Amy: Yeah. Yep.

Whitney: And so your skin should look good, your everything should heal.

Amy: I've interviewed people that say your gray hair can go away from autophagy.

Whitney: Yeah, I actually have read some stuff about that, as well. I mean, again, it all depends on what you believe your body can do, but our bodies are so amazing,

Amy: Yeah.

Whitney: and we have fucked it up

Amy: Right. And we've

Whitney: with the food and

Amy: and all this is organic. I think they're They're very careful, more careful than I would be able to be, I think. So they're very careful in the quality of everything in there. So I do I really like that part of it.

Whitney: Yeah. The quality of it. Nutrients.

Amy: So what do they claim? Here we go.

Whitney: Yeah, please. I want to know.

Amy: And after three this is after three consecutive monthly cycles that they're claiming this.

Whitney: Which you have never done. You've done two.

Amy: No, but everything I'm about to list, I felt after one.

Whitney: Oh.

Amy: Okay?

Whitney: Okay.

Amy: I mean, except the things where they're like after 3 months, but

Whitney: Right.

Amy: but no, I felt all of this. So it says it helps rejuvenate your skin from within. It increases your hydration by 25%.

Whitney: Mhm. Oh.

Amy: It improves fine lines, evens the tone of your skin, enhances your radiance. I felt all that. I felt like my skin 1,000,000% looked better.

Whitney: Okay, great. It's great. But you also were preparing for your wedding, so you're doing facials and right?

Amy: That's true, but I noticed You felt that had something to do with it. Okay. after this. Yeah. Oh, no. The It didn't just have something to do with that, it was I actually went to Miami after I did it the first time, and our friend that lives in Miami, I was like, "Oh, I just finished a fast." And he just finished a water fast, and we were kind of comparing notes, and I was just noticing like, I feel fucking I remember talking about how good I felt.

Whitney: Wow.

Amy: So, yeah.

Whitney: Yeah, okay.

Amy: So, and you know what? It was a push on like day day four, I feel like, to get through it. I feel like I was like, "Ugh, I got to I got to get through this." But I did, and I was so happy I did. Okay. So users also report smoother skin texture, improved quality of their skin, and greater confidence in their skin's appearance. It also claims a mental reset, greater confidence in achievement, which is just from achieving that. Like you do feel good.

Whitney: Mhm. Absolutely. It goes back to the pillars that we talked about with Arthur Brooks, like doing something difficult and seeing it through, you feel satisfaction.

Amy: Yeah. You really do. You really do. You're like, I'm proud of myself. And you reduce cravings, which 1,000,000% it does.

Whitney: Yeah. Sure.

Amy: And that's that's the coffee, too, for me. Healthier eating habits post-fast. That means after you're done, you're already like shaping up, right? More mindfulness around food, increased motivation to exercise, stronger sense of control over their health. After one cycle, people felt revitalized, had improved energy, me, sharper focus,

Whitney: Need it.

Amy: greater mental clarity,

Whitney: Need it.

Amy: and it support and then, of course, it supports both cellular cleanup and ketosis, which can leave many people feeling refreshed and revitalized, which I did. I was shocked. I mean, I think Justin, too, was like, "Maybe I should do this," cuz I was like, "Wow,

Whitney: Mhm.

Amy: I'm like shining."

Whitney: "shining and vibrant."

Amy: I am so vigorous.

Whitney: "vigorous." But why did But then it wasn't enough to for you to do round three. Like after all that,

Amy: I know! I think we were traveling. I think we had too much travel,

Whitney: it still didn't Yeah.

Amy: and it was the end of school with Gigi, and I think I just couldn't get it together to do 5 days. I think I remember opening one and trying and I was just like, "Fuck, I'm not going to be able to do this." Like or I had things coming up with friends,

Whitney: Yeah. Sure.

Amy: you know?

Whitney: Yeah.

Amy: And so I just I just couldn't get it together. I think it was like May, and I was just like, May is hard.

Whitney: Yeah. All right.

Amy: May is a hard month. So, but it did reset me. I felt so good. So how much does it cost? I think the the the lowest-priced one, and it depends on which like you can choose one with more variety of your soups or whatever it is, or you can choose one with powdered soups versus like already pre-soupy soups. It started at $182 for 5 days, not too bad.

Whitney: Mhm. 5 days of food.

Amy: Yeah. Or you can buy a 1-day reset also, and that's about $34.

Whitney: All right. And when would you do the 1-day reset?

Amy: I don't know. They have advice on their website,

Whitney: Yeah.

Amy: but you can do that if you want, just like a

Whitney: But if you were really into this program and you felt like it did all of those things, you would do this protocol once a month

Amy: for 3 months in a row, but then you're done. Then you're done, and then the next year, you would do it

Whitney: Do it again. Okay.

Amy: maybe here and there, three times.

Whitney: And then by then, you would hope that you would have more knowledge of what you're putting in your mouth and

Amy: Yeah.

Whitney: what you're eating. And so it just becomes more of a lifestyle change.

Amy: Yeah, and I think they say that it boosts autophagy enough to where your cells get the idea and they're functioning better. After that third cycle, they are functioning better. So you're like

Whitney: Oh, yeah. 189 is not bad.

Amy: No, uh-uh.

Whitney: I don't think. I mean you're not getting a lot cuz, you know, it's fast.

Amy: I don't either. And actually, I think they say it starts at that cuz you can subscribe, and so I did subscribe to get the lower price, but then you can go in and cancel your subscription all the time.

Whitney: Sure.

Amy: Not cancel your subscription, cancel your auto-ship.

Whitney: Snooze it or whatever. Yeah. Yeah.

Amy: Snooze it. Yeah. You can kick it down the road. So so that's worth it to do. You just have to snooze your emails so you can go in and, you know, make sure that you're not charged and sent that.

Whitney: Can Is this viable for any age? I mean obviously not young children or whatever, but like like for my 79-year-old mom,

Amy: I think so, yeah.

Whitney: is it something that you feel like

Amy: Yeah.

Whitney: she could do?

Amy: Yes.

Whitney: But you you do like Walk me through the days. Like day one, you're feeling okay, but you're hungry, probably. But

Amy: Mhm.

Whitney: day two, a little bit hungrier, but you're still on the program. Day three, you're like, ugh, when is this going to be over?

Amy: Well, let's see. Day one, you don't have the L-Drink, so your on your own with the hydration kind of, yeah. And and it's fine. You're I think day one, you're like excited about it. You're like, "I got this." Day two, I really did have a headache middle of the day. They say you might have a sinking spell, you know, that's

Whitney: Not looking forward. Right. Yeah, sure. Sure. Right.

Amy: I think that's pretty normal. Your energy can fluctuate and you just have to take care of yourself. I am not going to go exert myself at the gym this week.

Whitney: Okay. Yes. Sure. That makes perfect sense.

Amy: I'm I am going to go for a walk when it cools down later tonight. I meant to earlier, but whatever. But I am going to walk, and I think that's probably like the smartest course for me, because I I'm not going to lift heavy weights this week. Yesterday, I ran to the gym, did a short walk, and I just did some like

Whitney: Mhm. And that was day two.

Amy: circuit. That was day two. And it was very short. I mean like the weights I did was like 15 minutes, and so I just felt like I needed to do something, I don't know. But then I paid for it, because I had a little bit of a headache and stuff.

Whitney: Yeah. Yeah, sure.

Amy: And I didn't eat all the food yesterday, which I don't know if that's bad. I know

Whitney: That is bad, because this is a science. That's why it's day one, day two, and you don't mix and match. That is very bad, Amy.

Amy: I didn't eat one of the soups. Very bad. I didn't have time.

Whitney: No, you have to eat it all. What? It's a soup.

Amy: It got to be 8:00 p.m., and I was like, I don't want to eat late, so I stopped.

Whitney: You're on Oh man, no.

Amy: I know.

Whitney: You're not on a regular schedule, so it's okay to eat that soup at 8:00 p.m.

Amy: Well, then I have to tell you, today,

Whitney: You've already skipped.

Amy: I well, I ate half of the fasting bar. I just hate it. I'm sorry. You know what? Last time I did it, I didn't eat the olives cuz I used to hate olives.

Whitney: What? I wonder Well, this Well, this is when you use the community or you go in and you ask, cuz I am sure not everyone People are allergic to walnuts, like

Amy: Yeah.

Whitney: not every or pecans or whatever it is.

Amy: That's why they ate walnuts, too.

Whitney: So I'm sure there is something that you could swap out or eat on your own.

Amy: Okay, I'll go check it out.

Whitney: Listen, lady, if you're going to do it, do it right.

Amy: My God.

Whitney: No no cutting out stuff.

Amy: Cracking the whip. Okay, well, anyway, I I remember last time, I had a couple of bumps, like I didn't eat the olives, cuz I hated olives at the time. And then I started the second time, and I was like, "Maybe I like olives," and then I ended up liking olives.

Whitney: And you did.

Amy: So I don't it's not it's not the end of the world.

Whitney: But it is science. Like it is They have They have put science into this to get your body to do what they want it to do.

Amy: It is. It is. Yes.

Whitney: That's why the packets are what they are, why they add the liquid later, like it's a It is science.

Amy: Yeah.

Whitney: So you're fucking with the science, dude.

Amy: Okay. Wow, you're convinced. Okay.

Whitney: I'm convinced.

Amy: All right, fine. Well, sorry.

Whitney: I'm getting rid of old patterns. And I say what I mean, and I mean what I say.

Amy: And you know, and then they say when you're done, on day six, like you can just take it really easy that day, eat whole foods, fruit, like that sort of thing.

Whitney: That was going to be my next question is, how do you ease back into real life?

Amy: You do. You ease back into it, and you eat really healthy.

Whitney: And do they give you suggestions on foods to to eat? Okay, good.

Amy: Yes. Mhm. Yes, they do.

Whitney: They don't just leave you high and dry.

Amy: No, they're not like, "Peace."

Whitney: "Bye."

Amy: So, yeah. So that's basically the rundown, so

Whitney: I'm excited.

Amy: yeah. Yeah, it it's called prolonlife.com, if anybody wants to check it, p r o l o n, yeah.

Whitney: ProLon Life.

Amy: And so it's pretty interesting. I just I like the idea of not operating in a full, zero-calorie deficit if I'm going to fast, and I want the autophagy. So

Whitney: I agree. I wonder It would be interesting cuz I've done juice fasts before, you know, like through Pressed Juicery or what or something else, Cleanse or something.

Amy: That was really hot like in the 2000 2010, early 2010s.

Whitney: Yeah, yeah. And and But I don't I don't remember that they said, "Drink this juice at this time, this juice at this time." So I wonder if it really did

Amy: Mhm.

Whitney: you know, this seems very science-based, and this is what we're trying to get your body to go into, and this is how we're going to do it.

Amy: Yeah.

Whitney: I like that. And it's easy. Like, I don't want to have to think.

Amy: I don't think juices are that great, too.

Whitney: No.

Amy: I mean, you're not getting any fiber, you're a lot of sugar.

Whitney: Well, can you not get fiber from celery juice?

Amy: Oh God, back to celery fucking juice.

Whitney: I'm off of it. I have a juicer if anybody wants one.

Amy: Same. And also, the books all about celery juice. I have a big juicer because you got me into juicing, so. All right. All right. Well, that's that. Okay.

Whitney: I know. That's funny. Oh, I'm so excited.

Amy: I'm excited. I'm going to try it.

Whitney: Yeah. I'm going to be leaving town soon, so for 3 weeks.

Amy: Oh, right. Right.

Whitney: So it won't be you know, I can't do it right away.

Amy: So you see? It's hard.

Whitney: Yeah, but when I get back, it's just 5 days.

Amy: It sounds like it, but then you're like looking at your schedule, and you're like, well, I have this, I have this, I have this. And then I've got to go here, and everyone's going to want to go out to lunch and

Whitney: Somebody's birthday. Yeah, it's hard to not would not to snack, I would bet. But like if you go out, like I'm like, well, I just won't eat.

Amy: you know? Right.

Whitney: But then they put the hummus in front of you, and you're like, hummus can't be bad.

Amy: Yeah. Yeah! Exactly. So, all right.

Whitney: Yeah. Well, thank you for sharing it all.

Amy: All right, yes. You're welcome. You're welcome. All right, let us know what you think. We want to know if you have a mid moment, let us know as well. Email us and all the good things, and just thank you for being here.

Whitney: I'm excited. Yeah, thanks for listening.

Amy: Yes. Bye. Until next time. Or wait, what do we say? Oh, we say, and don't forget. We do what we want.

Whitney: We do what we want. Bye.

Amy: Good.