The Longevity Diet: Discover the New Science Behind Stem Cell Activation and Regeneration to Slow Aging, Fight Disease, and Optimize Weight

by Valter Longo

FMD is also clinically proven to stimulate the loss of abdominal fat while conserving muscle and bone mass.

The doctor recommends he eat very little, give up alcohol, and stop having sex. “Are you sure it will work?” the man asks. “I don’t really know,” the doctor replies, “but no matter how long you live, it will seem an eternity!”

Follow a pescetarian diet. Aim for a diet that is close to 100 percent plant- and fish-based, limiting fish consumption to two or three portions a week and avoiding fish with high mercury content (tuna, swordfish, mackerel, halibut).

Eat twice a day plus a snack. Unless your waist circumference and body weight are in the normal or low range, it is best to eat breakfast and one major meal plus a nourishing low-calorie, low-sugar snack daily.

Observe time-restricted eating. Another common practice adopted by many centenarian groups is time-restricted eating, or confining all meals and snacks to within eleven to twelve hours or less a day. The efficiency of this method has been demonstrated in both animal and human studies.

You should also not eat within three to four hours of going to sleep.

Areas of the world known to have the highest prevalence of centenarians—Okinawa, Japan; Loma Linda, California; small towns in Calabria and Sardinia, Italy; and in Costa Rica and Greece—all share diets that are (1) mostly

plant-based with lots of nuts and some fish; (2) low in proteins, sugars, and saturated/trans fats; and (3) high in complex carbohydrates coming from beans and other plant-based foods. Most of these centenarians ate only two or three times a day, ate light meals in the evening, and were in many cases done eating before dark. They also consumed a limited variety of foods—ones typical of their homelands. In some cases they did modify their diet. For example, Okinawans used to get most of their calories from sweet purple potatoes, but today that is far less common.

pasta e vaianeia,

Walk fast for an hour every day.

Ride, run, or swim thirty to forty minutes every other day, plus two hours on the weekend.

In our cancer studies with mice, we had determined that four major changes in the blood need to occur to show that the mouse had entered a protected state as a result of fasting: (1) lower levels of the growth factor IGF-1; (2) lower levels of glucose; (3) higher levels of ketone bodies, the by-product of fat breakdown; and (4) higher levels of a growth factor inhibitor (IGFBP1).

I know many activists will still object, but I ask that they be honest and consider the consequences. If they don’t condone animal experiments under any circumstances, even those necessary to develop treatments for deadly diseases, then they should never take any drug—even aspirin or antibiotics—and tell their family members to do the same.

In a recent paper, we showed that cycles of the FMD, in addition to improving the function of insulin, could promote the regeneration of insulin-producing beta cells and the reversal of both type 1 and type 2 diabetes symptoms in mice in which the pancreas could not generate sufficient insulin, resulting in very high glucose levels.12 Remarkably, the FMD caused the activation of many pancreatic genes normally activated during embryonic/fetal development, suggesting that it can trigger a natural and highly coordinated regenerative response able to result in new and functioning beta cells, which can make normal levels of insulin.

coconut oil contains a high level of medium-chain fatty acids (MCFA, or fats with 6 to 12 carbons in the chain). MCFA are easily converted into ketone bodies, the same molecules produced at high levels during fasting. The brain begins to utilize ketones as a major source of energy during prolonged fasting periods and when glucose is scarce.

My ancestors are all from Italy, and because of this my diet is rich in tomatoes, green beans, garbanzo beans, and olive oil.

Eat a mostly vegan diet with some fish: Strive for a 100 percent plant- and fish-based diet, but limit fish consumption to two or three meals a week and avoid fish with high mercury content. After age sixty-five to seventy, if you start losing muscle mass, strength, and weight, add more fish and fruit and introduce animal-based foods like eggs, cheese, and yogurt made from sheep’s or goat’s milk. Consume low but sufficient proteins: Consume approximately 0.31 to 0.36 grams of protein per pound of body weight per day. If you weigh 100 pounds, that is about 31 to 36 grams of protein per day, of which 30 grams should be consumed in a single meal to maximize muscle

synthesis. If you weigh 200 pounds and have 35 percent body fat, 60 grams of protein per day are instead sufficient, considering that it is the lean body mass that utilizes most of the proteins. Protein intake should be raised slightly after age sixty-five to seventy in individuals who are losing weight and muscle. Minimize bad fats and sugars, and maximize good fats and complex carbs: The diet should be rich in “good” unsaturated fats, including those from salmon, almonds, and walnuts, but very poor in “bad” saturated, hydrogenated, and trans fats. Likewise, the diet should be rich in complex carbohydrates, such as those provided by whole bread and vegetables, but poor in sugars and limited in pasta, rice, white bread, fruit juices, and fruits containing carbohydrates that are easily converted into simple sugars. Finally, the diet should be low in animal proteins but relatively high in vegetable proteins, in order to minimize the former’s negative effects on diseases and maximize the latter’s nourishing effects. Be nourished: The body needs protein, essential fatty acids (omega-3 and omega-6), minerals, vitamins, and sufficient sugar to fight the many wars going on inside and outside cells. To be sure you get enough nutrients, every three days take a multivitamin and a mineral pill, plus an omega-3 fish oil soft gel purchased from a reputable manufacturer. Eat at the table of your ancestors: Consume a variety of foods to take in all the required nutrients, but choose the ...

on the table of your parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents, so long as they are included in the Longevity Diet. Eat twice a day plus a snack: Unless your waist circumference and body weight are in the normal or low range, it is best to eat breakfast plus one other meal a day and one low-calorie, low-sugar, nourishing snack. If your weight or muscle mass is too low, then eat three meals a day plus a snack. Time-restricted eating: Restrict your eating to eleven to twelve hours or less per day. For example, if you eat breakfast after 8 a.m., finish dinner before 8 p.m. Shorter periods of feeding (ten hours or less) have been shown to be even more effective in promoting health, but they are much more difficult to comply with and may increase the risk of side effects, such as the formation of gallstones. Periodic prolonged fasting-mimicking diets: People who are under seventy years of age, not frail or malnourished, and free of certain diseases should undergo five-day periods during which they consume a relatively high-calorie fasting-mimicking diet (see chapter 6). An FMD may also be appropriat...