The longevity diet | Dr. Valter Longo

The exact diet to optimize cellular health and slow aging, according to a longevity expert.

Author

Erin Hunter
November 19, 2024

The Livelong Newsletter

Dr. Valter Longo

Hi everyone,

Fasting (“abstaining from food or drink”) has been a part of our history for thousands of years—back then, we only ate what we were lucky enough to hunt or forage.

Today, fasting is not necessary for survival. Yet it continues to be a popular means of weight loss and boosting metabolism.

🪀 The risks and benefits are contradictory, though, a yo-yo that causes many to look for alternate ways to extend life and increase health span.

Longevity expert Valter Longo, PhD, a professor at University of Southern California, believes the answer lies in the fasting-mimicking diet (FMD).

In this article:

  • The fasting-mimicking diet for anti-aging

  • Healing and reversing diabetes, naturally

  • Overcoming problems with traditional fasting

  • Here’s what you should eat when you are not fasting

  • And more…

Key Takeaways

  • Aim for 12 hours of time-restricted eating daily (for example: eat between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m.)

  • Follow the ‘Longevity Diet’ as closely as possible.

  • Aim for two/three cycles of the fasting-mimicking diet annually.

FMD for longevity

What is the fasting-mimicking diet?

“The fasting-mimicking diet..triggers(s) the body's ability to fix itself,” Longo tells Livelong in an interview. 

It is a five-day, whole-food plant-based diet that is low in calories, carbohydrates, and protein, and high in unsaturated (healthy) fats—like those found in olive oil.

FMD mimics the effects of a water-only fast, while continuing to nourish the body with vital nutrients.

“You can think of it as a drug made of food,” he explains.

How does FMD work?

Limiting caloric intake gives the body the opportunity to clear away the “junk,” he says. Think of it like a “partial cleanup” of the damaged components in our cells and body.

This process is also known as autophagy.

  • Autophagy also recycles junk parts into functioning ones again and destroys viruses and bacteria, according to the Cleveland Clinic.

  • Efficient cellular function is vital for longevity.

The magic of the FMD lies not during the diet phase itself, but in the return to normal eating, Longo says.

“Days after the refeeding [is when] we see a lot of rebuilding,” Longo says.

Rebuilding occurs at the cellular and organ levels, helping reset the “clocks” on cells, he says. 

Anti-aging and healing potential

The diet can lead to weight loss, lower blood pressure, and reverse hypertension, he says. These conditions are at the root of more severe conditions, such as heart disease, cancer, and diabetes.

In ongoing clinical trials, multiple cycles of FMD started to reverse diabetes in some patients, he says. The landmark discovery could change the way we treat metabolic diseases.

Finally, FMD also slows immune system aging and reduces biological age (the age of your cells) by two and a half years, according to a recent study.

FMD avoids the pitfalls of fasting

FMD is distinct from traditional methods because there is less risk of muscle loss, but trials offer reassurance that it still causes “lots of fat loss,” he tells Livelong.

Water-only fasts can also have a gnarly range of side effects, from fatigue and dehydration to hypoglycemia and malnutrition, and the extremism of not eating makes it hard to adhere to, Longo says.

FMD and the longevity diet

The FMD is not a year-round eating approach—Longo only recommends doing two or three five-day cycles per year—but is an integral part of a larger ‘Longevity Diet.’

David Katz, MD, the founding director of Yale University’s Prevention Research Center, describes the longevity diet as a hybrid between traditional Blue Zones eating principles and FMD in Everyday Health.

Blue Zone diets offer foundational eating wisdom, but according to Longo, the problem is that they are not scientifically-driven and don’t have universal benefits.

  • “Science is more complicated” than simply eating a Mediterranean diet with the expectation of receiving the same heart disease-lowering benefits as heritage Italians, he says.

Genetics and clinical research also determine the best diet, which can change throughout a lifespan. 

For example, eating a plant-forward, low-protein diet with a little bit of fish is best until your biological age (the age of your cells) is 65 to 70, he says. After that, increasing protein at age 65 can combat age-related muscle loss.

Everyday Health says the Longevity Diet also includes:

  • Mostly fiber-rich unrefined carbohydrates

  • Plant-based protein and a little non-toxic seafood (salmon; sardines)

  • 30% of calories come from plant-based fats (olives, avocados, nuts)

  • Eating within a 12-hour window

  • Doing an FMD two to three times per year

Big picture 

We need to shift away from long-term fasting and intermittent fasting, Longo says.

Extended fasting practices “are going to do as much good as [they] do bad,” he says. 

  • Case in point: Skipping breakfast increases the risk of cardiovascular disease, he says.

  • Muscle wasting caused by fasting is also a top concern among longevity experts.

Eating a diet for longevity is about consistency, and incorporating practices like FMD adds fuel to natural healing processes and your potential to live a long, disease-free life.

Longo leaves us with this question:

“How much of [these principles] do you think you can incorporate in your diet, be happy with, and keep for the rest of your life?”

Ready to try FMD?

Prolon is a 5-day FMD kit developed by Dr. Longo that supports cellular health, metabolism, and healthy aging.

LIVELONG BOOKSHELF • Fall ‘24 🍁

Top longevity books for fall 2024

The value of taking care of yourself now means being healthy for your entire life. That’s why we curated a list of the best books on longevity. Kickstart your path to health and vitality this fall.

☝️ Find your next transformative read here.

Didn’t catch the last episode?

Dr. Will Bulsiewicz, the Gut Health MD, talks about his favorite tools to optimize gut health.

🔛 What’s next?

We can’t wait to cover more trending topics in longevity in our next newsletter. Stay tuned.

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Always seek the advice of a physician or other qualified health care professional before starting any exercise, wellness, or health program. Nothing in our content, products or services should be considered, or used as a substitute for, medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Livelong is a media company and not a medical provid

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