Fasting-mimicking diet may reduce periodontal inflammation

Iveta Ramonaite, Dental Tribune International

Thu. 25. June 2026

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LONDON, England: Although dietary interventions have been associated with reduced systemic inflammation, their relevance to periodontal disease remains unclear. To address this gap, researchers at King’s College London have investigated whether a fasting-mimicking diet can affect clinical parameters and inflammatory biomarkers in patients with periodontitis. The findings point to a possible effect on inflammation after non-surgical periodontal therapy.

Lead author Dr Giuseppe Mainas, a research assistant at King’s College London. (Image: Dr Giuseppe Mainas)

“Over the last decade, increasing evidence has shown that periodontitis is not simply a local oral disease, but a chronic inflammatory condition associated with systemic health. At the same time, fasting-mimicking diets have attracted considerable scientific interest because of their potential effects on inflammation and metabolic regulation. We wanted to investigate whether these benefits could also be observed in periodontal patients undergoing conventional treatment,” lead author Dr Giuseppe Mainas, a research assistant at King’s, told Dental Tribune International.

He added: “Lifestyle interventions represent a potentially accessible approach that could complement existing periodontal therapies. Understanding how nutrition influences periodontal inflammation could open new avenues for more holistic patient management.”

The study was a multicentre feasibility randomised controlled pilot trial involving 27 systemically healthy adults with Stage III–IV periodontitis recruited from university dental clinics across Spain. The participants were divided into two groups: one group followed three five-day cycles of a restrictive, fasting-mimicking diet while the control group maintained their usual diet. The fasting-mimicking diet followed was a short-term, low-calorie dietary regimen designed to reproduce some of the physiological effects of fasting while allowing limited food intake. Blood and crevicular fluid samples, clinical parameters and patient-reported outcomes were assessed over the six-month study period.

The study found that a fasting-mimicking diet was feasible and appeared safe in this patient group as an adjunct to non-surgical periodontal treatment. It also showed a reduction in inflammatory biomarkers, but it did not produce clear improvements in periodontal clinical outcomes compared with the control group.

“Patients undergoing repeated cycles of a fasting-mimicking diet showed changes in both systemic and local inflammatory biomarkers following periodontal treatment. In particular, we observed reductions in selected inflammatory biomarkers together with changes in inflammatory markers detected in crevicular fluid,” Dr Mainas explained.

Senior author Prof. Luigi Nibali, head of the Centre for Host–Microbiome Interactions at King’s College London. (Image: Prof. Luigi Nibali)

Senior author Prof. Luigi Nibali, head of the Centre for Host–Microbiome Interactions at King’s, also highlighted patient adherence as evidence of the intervention’s feasibility: “Patients were able to complete the dietary intervention with very high adherence, suggesting that such an approach can realistically be implemented in a periodontal setting.”

“Our findings suggest that future periodontal care may extend beyond conventional mechanical treatment alone. While professional cleaning and oral hygiene remain the foundation of periodontal therapy, lifestyle interventions such as dietary modification may represent promising adjunctive strategies to support inflammation control. The study also reinforces the concept that oral health and general health are closely interconnected and should not be considered separately,” Dr Mainas noted.

Despite the encouraging findings, the researchers emphasised that the evidence is exploratory and that larger studies are needed to confirm the results. However, Prof. Nibali believes that dentistry could benefit from a more personalised and multidisciplinary approach to periodontal therapy. “Although fasting-mimicking diets are not ready to be routinely prescribed for periodontal patients, this research provides a foundation for future studies investigating how nutritional interventions can be integrated into comprehensive periodontal care,” Prof. Nibali concluded.

The study builds on long-standing research by King’s into the relationship between oral inflammation and wider health. Last year, researchers at King’s reported an association between the Mediterranean diet and less severe periodontal disease.

The study, titled “A fasting-mimicking diet affects the inflammatory response following periodontal treatment: A multi-centre feasibility randomised controlled pilot trial”, was published online on 10 June 2026 in the Journal of Clinical Periodontology, ahead of inclusion in an issue.