Stanford Trial: 5‑Day Fasting Diet Cuts Crohn’s
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- Stanford Medicine coordinated a national randomized controlled trial of 97 Crohn’s disease patients, assigning 65 to a fasting‑mimicking diet and 32 to usual eating.
- Fasting‑mimicking diet limited calorie intake to 700‑1,100 calories per day of plant‑based meals for five consecutive days each month over a three‑month period.
- Two‑thirds of participants on the diet reported symptom improvement, versus fewer than half of the control group.
- Fecal calprotectin and other inflammatory biomarkers fell significantly in the diet group compared with controls.
- Side effects in the diet group were mild, mainly fatigue and headaches, with no serious adverse events recorded.
- Valter Longo holds equity in L‑Nutra, the supplier of the diet meals, and has filed patents related to the regimen.
- Funding came from the Helmsley Charitable Trust, NIH, Stanford’s Plant Based Diet Initiative, and other foundations.
Why it matters: Patients with mild‑to‑moderate Crohn’s disease gain a clinically tested dietary regimen that reduces symptoms and lowers inflammation, while physicians obtain evidence‑based guidance for nutrition counseling; the study’s modest size, short duration, and author’s equity stake temper the broader applicability of the findings.
