ProLon is an overnight success! Like many overnight successes, it was thirty years in the making. Dr. Valter Longo and his team at the USC Longevity Research Center have put something together called the “Fasting Mimicking Diet” (FMD). A friend recommended Longo’s book, The Longevity Diet, an excellent book which lays out a convincing case for his five pillars of longevity. This book and Dr. Longo’s research are the basis for the L-Nutra FMD. Dr. Longo claims he makes no money from this company and his 60% share all goes to charity. Too bad for Dr. Longo they just went over 150,000 kits sold at $249 a kit; you do the math.
The packaging is great – it comes with everything you need to eat and drink for five days, except for water. It is separated into five smaller boxes that have your complete meal plan for that day.
The product makes some amazing claims. You can get all the benefits of fasting, but with food. Fasting is gaining credibility in the healthy longevity market. Calorie restriction has long been known to have major health benefits – you can literally turn back the clock. Dr. Longo claims that the benefit of the FMD is that you can get even greater benefits than water fasting and people’s ability to stick with it skyrockets.
This is a perfect fit for people want to jumpstart their health and perhaps start a new diet. Dr. Longo claims this is not just another diet and that it has healthy longevity benefits beyond the five-day period.
Pros
The science behind the FMD is impeccable. It is simple to follow and can have short and long-term benefits. Many people, after three cycles, claim to have a transformed their relationship with food. The $249 retail price tag is not the real cost when you consider that the average person spends approximately $25 a day/$125 over five days – the net cost to the consumer is $125 – not bad for transforming your health!
Cons
I asked two well-known physicians their thoughts on the five-day program. The comments were less than encouraging. They both were impressed with Dr. Longo as a researcher but felt like he compromised the product quality when taking it to market. I explained to them that it is L-Nutra, not Dr. Longo, and that seemed to settle their concerns.
One of the doctors summarized her apprehension with a list from the ingredients page:
Most people don’t care about the list above. The physicians I spoke to are purists and seem to think that L-Nutra compromised Dr. Longo’s research and product for profit.
- Animal Product – Honey
- Insulin
- Citric Acid
- Potassium Sorbate
- Soy
- Lactic Acid
- Ascorbic Acid
- Added Olive Oil
- Potato Starch
- Fat, Sugar and Vitamin Supplementation
- Added Flavors
- High Sodium
