REVIEW: PROLON 5 DAY FAST MIMICKING PROGRAM

GP
Jun 25
5 min read

Updated: Jul 6

We Test the "Fast" Loved by Celebs - Enjoying Food and Mind-Boggling Results

A five day “fast” which can reverse your biological age by 2.5 years and blast belly fat… but still involves food?

It sounds too good to be true, so we test ProLon, the science-backed, plant-based program made famous by the likes of Gwyneth Paltrow, which delivers all the benefits of the hallowed 5-day fast, but without surviving on water alone.

My results are mind-boggling.

A luxurious white box arrives, filled with five numbered boxes, each containing my daily meals for the next five days, starting with 1,100 calories on Day 1, and dropping to 700-800 for the following four days.

The cunning plan is rich in healthy fats - with snacks including Nocellara olives - but low in proteins and sugars, to trick my body into a fasting state.

This prompts the body to enter “autophagy” (“to consume oneself” in Greek) when old and damaged cell components are recycled and renewed in a glorious internal clear-out, prolonging the life of your cells and with that, your own.

This is the reason why three monthly ProLon cycles has been clinically shown to reduce biological age - the rate in which cells are ageing.

The fasting state also triggers the body to produce six magical fat-burning hormones, which provide you with new energy, activate your nerve cells for strengthened intellectual capacity and blast through your fat reserves - the average adult has a stonking 80,000 calories worth to burn through.

I’ve been a fan of intermittent fasting for years, as its benefits are endless - it lowers cholesterol and blood pressure, modifies insulin resistance, clears diseased tissue, reduces inflammatory conditions, and is amazing for gut, metabolic and heart health. But I’ve never tried anything this extreme before.

Day One

Day one is difficult, but not impossible. I make the tasty nut bar last as long as possible, with my herbal tea and algal oil supplement, while forlornly watching my husband buttering his steaming toast.

Lunch is a sachet of hearty tomato soup, with kale crackers, olives and an nr-3 capsule - all ingeniously designed to provide the micro and macronutrients I need, without triggering food-sensing pathways.

I slowly eat my nut bar snack and herbal tea in the afternoon and then devour my Minestrone soup - my favourite option in the box - with a crispy chocolate bar snack, which by this point is as exciting to me as a big glass of Rioja - something I won’t be allowed for the next five days, alongside coffee. I go to bed early, dreaming of the nut bar I will have for breakfast.

Day 2

Day 2 is the most challenging of the week. I’m excited to see two snack bags of olives, but I notice the rations have dropped.

There is the new addition of a special drink, diluted with water in a measurement based on my weight. It’s a pleasant lemon drink with glycerin, to provide my body with an alternate source of energy, instead of lean body mass.

Although my stomach struggles to adjust to the new regime, I’m fascinated to observe that my energy levels have increased - I do 11 km with no effort, my brain fog has lifted and I am extra productive at work. I have entered the ketogenesis and fat burning stage, where my body uses fats for energy production.

Day 3

By Day 3, the box of goodies is noticeably smaller - there is no afternoon snack (besides herbal tea, which I’m now chugging back like the Diet Coke man) and and no post-dinner bar.

But amazingly, I feel zero hunger pangs. I am relentlessly (almost annoyingly) jolly and hyper-energised, smashing through meetings, work and nearly 16,000 steps, as though I’ve downed a litre of Red Bull. My skin looks dewy and fresh and I can already see my belly fat melting away - a cheeky jump on the scales shows I’ve already lost 3.5 pounds.

Another glorious development, is that my persistently poor sleep quality has been replaced by consistently high quality sleep scores on my FitBit, managing Deep Sleep for over two hours - one is my usual limit.

Motivated by my results, I go to bed smug and insufferable, allowing my husband a few hour’s break from me banging on about the benefits of the fast.

Day 4

Day 4 is when the Fasting High really kicks in - a strangely euphoric sensation, where I feel energised and focused. Apparently this is because by body is in hardcore self-eating mode, so I am now in the peak of cellular rejuvenation and recycling.

I also know that the finishing line is in touching distance and have had the best three night’s sleep since before I had children.

And there is much excitement when I discover the grand return of the post-dinner snack bar that evening. Boom.

Day 5

Day 5 is more of a challenge - it’s Friday, when I normally reward myself with wine. And with the end so close, I find my mind drifting to thoughts of delicious things I can eat and drink afterwards - iced coffee, Rioja, avocado and eggs on buttery toast.

The hunger pangs aren’t as intense as Day 1, but the cravings are there. However, I remind myself that it’s the final day and slowly eat my final artichoke and yellow tomato soup of the program.

The following morning - after another amazing night’s sleep - I jump on the scales to find that I’ve lost six pounds in five days.

My skin is one of my favourite surprises - plump, dewy and glowing.

And my Fitbit stats show that my Daily Readiness score is a high 96; my heart rate variability is 48% higher than normal; and my Resting Heart rate is 4 bmp lower than normal.

I feel amazing. And although I’m excited about eating normally, I’m almost reluctant to lose momentum.

Its creator, Dr Valter Longo - who spent two decades researching the program - recommends you ease your body back to normality with bone broth and avoid alcohol. I don’t drink any booze, but I do devour sausages, rice, cheese and buns at a family barbecue the day after the program, with zero regrets and only brief queasiness.

And the following week, I eat normally but healthily and resume my weekday intermittent fasting, and can report that - despite a couple of boozy days and the odd pizza - my weight, skin, and energy levels have remained in pleasing states, and so many of my cells have been replaced and spruced, I now wonder if I’m the same person.

Day 1 me would be alarmed to know that I would do this extraordinary program again in a heartbeat.

ProLon 5 Day Program - £209