June 17, 2026, 11:44 am | Read time: 5 minutes

Originally “just” a local inflammation of the periodontium, periodontitis is now clearly linked in medicine to several systemic diseases outside the oral cavity. Studies have shown that bacteria and inflammatory substances from the gums can enter the bloodstream and damage blood vessels or exacerbate chronic inflammatory processes.¹

A recent pilot study examined whether a “fasting-mimicking diet” (often called fasting-mimicking in German) can influence the inflammatory response after professional periodontitis treatment.²

Why Fasting-Mimicking for Periodontitis?

Fasting-mimicking is a specially developed, calorie-reduced diet designed to mimic certain metabolic reactions of traditional fasting, particularly anti-inflammatory mechanisms. The advantage of fasting-mimicking is that it does not require complete abstinence from food, making it easier to adhere to compared to traditional fasting.

The study aimed to determine whether three five-day fasting-mimicking cycles, as a supplement to non-surgical periodontitis treatment, could alter both local inflammatory reactions in the oral cavity and systemic ones. The focus was on the inflammatory marker high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), which can reliably detect even minor inflammations in the body.

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Study Details

The pilot study was conducted between December 2023 and November 2024 at five universities in Spain. It was a feasibility study, meaning it tested whether the planned approach could be implemented in practice. The 28 participants were randomly assigned to groups. In the test group, participants received non-surgical periodontitis treatment and were instructed to follow three fasting-mimicking cycles, each lasting five days: once starting on the treatment day and then 45 and 85 days later. The control group received the same periodontitis treatment but made no changes to their diet.

The follow-up period was about six months. At scheduled intervals, researchers assessed clinical parameters of periodontitis, including certain blood values and inflammatory markers in the fluid from the gum pockets (gingival sulcus fluid). They also recorded patients’ self-assessed quality of life regarding their oral health. These assessments were conducted at the start of the study period and again one day later, one week later, and after 45, 90, and 180 days.

Results

All but one participant completed the study. In the fasting-mimicking group, everyone reported completing the three planned fasting-mimicking cycles. There were no reports of serious side effects.

Researchers found that non-surgical periodontitis treatment led to significant clinical improvements in both groups. Plaque levels, bleeding on probing, and pocket depth improved. The clinical attachment loss–which measures the extent of destruction in the periodontium–also improved significantly after three and six months compared to baseline. There were no statistically significant differences between the groups in these parameters. Fasting-mimicking did not provide additional benefits but also did not have negative effects.

For systemic inflammation values, a different picture emerged. In both groups, the hs-CRP value initially increased immediately after treatment, reflecting the expected acute inflammatory response, the study authors wrote. The values then decreased again.

Fasting-Mimicking Reduces Periodontitis Inflammation Values

In the fasting-mimicking group, inflammation values in the blood significantly decreased over the course of the study. In contrast, they remained largely unchanged in the control group. Fasting-mimicking could thus contribute to a reduction in systemic inflammation, as suggested by the researchers’ statistical analyses. Additionally, various inflammatory markers in the participants’ gums changed. Fasting-mimicking seemed to particularly affect systemic blood markers, which are associated with inflammatory processes in the tissue and generally indicate inflammation in the body–including outside the oral cavity.

The results suggest that fasting-mimicking can favorably influence the inflammatory response after non-surgical periodontitis treatment–not only local inflammatory processes in the gums but also inflammatory processes in other body regions.

The authors consider the development of hs-CRP–an established marker for systemic inflammation used in many medical fields–to be particularly relevant. The significantly lower values in the fasting-mimicking group at later measurement points could indicate that repeated fasting-mimicking cycles have an anti-inflammatory effect.

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Possible Significance of the Results

The study provides indications that fasting-mimicking may influence inflammation-related processes. Whether this results in a concrete benefit for periodontitis treatment in the long term remains open. It is important to note that the measured biological changes did not translate into better clinical outcomes. Gum health (fewer inflammations) improved in both groups. However, researchers caution that additional fasting-mimicking did not lead to measurable benefits in pocket depths, bleeding, or other clinical parameters. The practical significance of the findings needs to be clarified through larger studies.

Limitations

With only 28 participants, the study, designed as a feasibility and pilot study, was not large enough to make reliable statements about the clinical efficacy of fasting-mimicking for periodontitis. It is also important to note that numerous biomarkers and time points were analyzed, increasing the risk of statistical chance findings. The authors repeatedly emphasize that their work cannot make statements about the clinical efficacy of fasting-mimicking.

Additionally, it cannot be reliably verified whether participants–as they claim–consistently followed their diet. No objective metabolic markers (such as ketone bodies or changes in glucose-insulin metabolism) were measured.

Finally, the groups were not equally balanced in terms of gender distribution: noticeably more women were in the control group than in the intervention group. Moreover, examiners from different medical institutions conducted the investigations, which opens the possibility of inaccuracies in the evaluation. The researchers also state that the follow-up period may have been too short.

If further studies confirm the results, it would still be important to investigate whether different foods and drinks consumed during fasting-mimicking enhance or hinder the apparent anti-inflammatory effect. Before the fasting-mimicking diet becomes an official part of periodontitis treatment, several questions remain to be answered.