You may have heard about the longevity diet and the promise of longevity, but what exactly is it and what makes it different from other health-promoting diets?
The Longevity Diet is a set of dietary recommendations put together by a biochemist named Walter Longo, director of the Institute for Longevity at the University of Southern California. He is known for his research into the role of fasting, the effects of nutrients on genes, and how these affect aging and disease risk.
Although the longevity diet is aimed at older people, it is also recommended for younger people. Longo says the diet will help him live to 120.
So what does a diet look like?
Foods in this diet are vegetables such as leafy greens, fruits, nuts, beans, olive oil, and low-mercury seafood.
Therefore, most foods in the longevity diet are plant-based. A plant-based diet is generally high in vitamins and minerals, fiber, and antioxidants, and low in saturated fat and salt, providing health benefits.
Foods not recommended are excess meat and dairy, foods high in processed sugars and saturated fats.
For those who don’t want to go dairy-free, the longevity diet recommends switching from cow’s milk to goat or sheep’s milk, which have slightly different nutritional profiles. There is little evidence that it provides many health benefits.
As recommended by the Longevity Diet, incorporating fermented dairy products (such as cheese and yogurt) into your diet is beneficial because it provides the broadest microbiome (good bacteria) of any milk.
Have you seen this diet method?
Many of you may recognize this as a familiar eating pattern. , is promoted and supported by considerable evidence that it promotes health, reduces disease risk, and promotes longevity.
The longevity diet also resembles evidence-based dietary guidelines in many countries, including Australia.
Two-thirds of the foods recommended by the Australian Dietary Guidelines come from plant foods (cereals, grains, legumes, beans, fruits and vegetables). The guidelines also offer plant-based alternatives to protein (such as dried beans, lentils, and tofu) and dairy products (such as soy milk, yogurt, and cheese, as long as they’re supplemented with calcium).
intermittent fasting
Another aspect of the longevity diet is fasting for specific periods of time known as intermittent fasting. The diet advocates eating in a 12-hour time frame and not eating three to four hours before bedtime.
Intermittent fasting typically involves fasting for 16 to 20 hours on a 4 to 8 hour meal frame. Another intermittent fasting option is the 5:2 diet. This diet restricts you to about 2,000 to 3,000 kilojoules for two days of the week and eats normally for the remaining five days.
Evidence indicates that intermittent fasting can lead to improvements in insulin resistance, which in turn leads to improved glycemic control. can reduce the risk of chronic diseases.
maintain a healthy weight
The Longevity Diet recommends that overweight people eat two meals a day (breakfast and one at lunch or dinner) plus only two low-sugar snacks. This is to try to reduce your intake of kilojoules for weight loss.
Another important aspect of this recommendation is to reduce snacking, especially foods high in saturated fat, salt and sugar. These are foods we usually call discretionary/sometimes foods, or ultra-processed foods.
eat the colors of the rainbow
The longevity diet recommends eating nutrient-rich foods. This is also recommended by most national dietary guidelines. This means eating a variety of foods within each food group that are rich in plant foods.
It is recommended to eat fruits and vegetables of different colors, as different colors of vegetables and fruits contain different nutrients. Recommendations to choose a wider range of whole grains than refined cereals, breads, pastas and rice also reflect the best nutritional evidence.
limit protein intake
The diet recommends limiting protein intake to 0.68-0.80 g/kg of body weight per day. That’s 47-56g of protein per day for a 70kg person. For reference, each of these foods contains about 10g of protein: 2 small eggs, 30g of cheese, 40g of lean chicken. , 250mL milk, 3/4 cup lentils, 120g tofu, 60g nuts, or 300mL soy milk. This is in line with government recommendations.
Most Australians easily consume this level of protein in their diet. However, it is the elderly population targeted by the longevity diet that is less likely to meet protein requirements.
In a longevity diet, it is recommended that most proteins come from plant sources or fish. Planning may be required.
Are there any problems with this diet?
This diet recommends taking a multivitamin and mineral supplement every 3-4 days. Longo says this prevents malnutrition and does not cause nutritional problems.
However, many medical organizations such as the World Cancer Research Fund, the British Heart Foundation, and the American Heart Association do not recommend taking supplements to prevent cancer or heart disease.
Supplements should only be taken on the advice of a doctor after blood tests have shown a deficiency of a particular nutrient. This is because some vitamins and minerals can be harmful in high doses.
If you’re eating a variety of foods across all food groups, you don’t need supplements because you meet all nutrient requirements.
verdict?
This longevity diet brings together many aspects of evidence-based healthy eating patterns. We are already promoting these because they improve our health and reduce the risk of developing chronic diseases. there is.
What the longevity diet doesn’t mention is the importance of exercise for health and longevity.
Evangeline Mantzioris is the Program Director of Nutrition and Food Science at the University of South Australia and a Certified Practical Dietitian. The piece first appeared on The Conversation.
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