The Path to Longevity Quotes

“THE MODERN HEALTHY LONGEVITY FOOD PYRAMID EXPLAINED The foundation of a modern healthy diet includes a wide variety of colourful vegetables, beans, minimally processed whole grains, nuts, seeds and fruits. These plant-based foods should be consumed every day and form the largest portion of our calories. Extra-virgin cold-pressed olive oil and avocado fruits can be used daily as condiments together with a range of spices, lemon juice and very small amounts of iodised salt.9 Fish, shellfish and molluscs can be consumed two to three times per week. Small portions of cheese and a few eggs can be consumed one to two times per week. Meat and sweets should be eaten only occasionally. Spring water and herbal teas are the best drinks to stay hydrated. All sugary beverages, such as soft”
― Luigi Fontana, The Path to Longevity: How to reach 100 with the health and stamina of a 40-year-old

“This is one of the reasons why the current medical approach, which consists of treating diseases only after they are clinically evident, is faulty.5 The message is ‘eat, drink and do whatever you want’, and then when you become sick ‘we will treat you with the most advanced and personalised drugs or surgical procedures’. This is insane!”
― Luigi Fontana, The Path to Longevity: How to reach 100 with the health and stamina of a 40-year-old

“Cao Tingdong (1699–1785) of China’s Qing dynasty wrote in his treatise on the Gerontology Perennial Maxims: Sufficient nourishment must be consumed for breakfast and lunch, and less for dinner, and at night we have to keep the stomach completely empty. Old people, in particular, should consume a very light dinner.52”
― Luigi Fontana, The Path to Longevity: How to reach 100 with the health and stamina of a 40-year-old

“For two months, our metabolic kitchen fed our research volunteers lunches and dinners of whole grains, whole-wheat bread, beans, nuts, and vegetables dressed with extra-virgin olive oil. Breakfast was composed of low-fat yogurt, oat porridge, nuts, and fruit. Fish was provided three times a week and poultry only once a week. Red meat and processed foods containing trans-fatty acids, refined carbohydrates and sugar – such as white bread, ice cream, snacks and soft drinks – were not allowed.”
― Luigi Fontana, The Path to Longevity: How to reach 100 with the health and stamina of a 40-year-old

“TRICKS TO CONTROL CALORIE INTAKE After many years of research, I came up with these easy tricks to control calorie intake: • substitute refined and processed foods with plenty of foods rich in vegetable fibre • stop eating before becoming full (satiated) • once or twice a week, eat only non-starchy raw or cooked vegetables dressed with extra-virgin olive oil; • consume most food within a restricted time frame, e.g. 8-10 hours • eat your food slowly”
― Luigi Fontana, The Path to Longevity: How to reach 100 with the health and stamina of a 40-year-old

“that to live a long and healthy life we need to prevent the accumulation of belly fat. How? Well, by performing regular exercise, but most importantly by reducing the intake of foods high in empty calories, fat and animal proteins (that are rich in sulphur and branched-chain amino acids).4”
― Luigi Fontana, The Path to Longevity: How to reach 100 with the health and stamina of a 40-year-old

“The most studied and reproducible intervention known to increase healthspan and lifespan is dietary restriction with optimal intake of vitamins and minerals. That means eating less but selecting high-quality nutritious food. Other dietary interventions that have been shown to stave off the onset of many of the diseases associated with ageing are intermittent fasting and protein and methionine-restriction (reduction of amino acids found in high concentration in animal food products), which are selective forms of dietary restriction.4”
― Luigi Fontana, The Path to Longevity: How to reach 100 with the health and stamina of a 40-year-old

“It’s important to understand that ageing does not itself cause chronic illnesses such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes or cancer. Instead, a persistent exposure to unhealthy lifestyles and other toxic external factors, like poor nutrition, sedentary lifestyle, psychological stress, smoking and pollution, accelerates the deterioration of organs and increases the risk of developing multiple, chronic medical conditions.”
― Luigi Fontana, The Path to Longevity: How to reach 100 with the health and stamina of a 40-year-old

“that when he designed this study, he was not interested in the effects of diet on longevity; he just wanted to prove that exercise had anti-ageing effects. He”
― Luigi Fontana, The Path to Longevity: How to reach 100 with the health and stamina of a 40-year-old

“Most of the Olympians in this large study, born between 1900 and 1904, died aged around 80, despite the fact that they led healthier lives even after the end of their competitive career. An athlete normally does not smoke, follows a controlled diet (high in calories though) and has a good, or even excellent, quality of life. Let’s take, for instance, some of the cyclists who have won the Giro d’Italia or the Tour de France. None of these has ever reached 100 years of age. The famous Gino Bartali, nicknamed ‘the iron man of Tuscany’, died at 85 years, Alfredo Binda at 83, Philippe Thys at 81 and Roger Lapébie at 85.”
― Luigi Fontana, The Path to Longevity: How to reach 100 with the health and stamina of a 40-year-old

“a quiet and compassionate temperament, sensitive to the natural flow of life • an untroubled life characterised by very strong family ties with extended families composed of great-grandparents, grandparents, parents, children and grandchildren who take care of each other.”
― Luigi Fontana, The Path to Longevity: How to reach 100 with the health and stamina of a 40-year-old

“• a mainly plant-based diet comprising vegetables, whole grains, legumes and small quantities of local goat cheese • occasional consumption of meat, typically only on Sunday and special occasions • a very physically active outdoor life, with long walks looking after grazing sheep and manual work in the field”
― Luigi Fontana, The Path to Longevity: How to reach 100 with the health and stamina of a 40-year-old

“It is said that in the village of Ogimi, in the northwest of the island, there is a stone on the beach with a medieval inscription: At 70 years you’re just a child, to 80 barely a youngster, and at 90, if your ancestors invite you to the Heaven, ask them to wait until you have 100 years ... only then maybe you can think about it.”
― Luigi Fontana, The Path to Longevity: How to reach 100 with the health and stamina of a 40-year-old

“Because of the constantly warm and sunny weather, men and women on this marvellous island tend to spend a lot of time outdoors, walking and working in the fields. They”
― Luigi Fontana, The Path to Longevity: How to reach 100 with the health and stamina of a 40-year-old

“The dessert, typically, was based on local fruits, accompanied by a hot cup of jasmine tea.”
― Luigi Fontana, The Path to Longevity: How to reach 100 with the health and stamina of a 40-year-old

“I was told that every meal starts with a miso soup, charged with tofu and seaweed, and accompanied by enormous amounts of leafy green vegetables”
― Luigi Fontana, The Path to Longevity: How to reach 100 with the health and stamina of a 40-year-old

“The dietary staple of Okinawans prior to the arrival of the Americans at the end of World War II was sweet potatoes, which provided approximately 50 per cent of daily calories. Purple (Beni Imo) or yellow orange (Satsuma Imo) sweet potatoes are extremely rich in vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin B6, manganese and other antioxidants like anthocyanins – the same pigments that give blueberries their colour. Elsewhere in Japan, about 78 per cent of dietary calories came from cereals, especially rice.”
― Luigi Fontana, The Path to Longevity: How to reach 100 with the health and stamina of a 40-year-old

“The intake of animal products in Okinawa was on average only 19 g per day (of which 15 g was from fish).”
― Luigi Fontana, The Path to Longevity: How to reach 100 with the health and stamina of a 40-year-old

“1785 calories per day; that is, about 14 per cent less than other Japanese back then (who consumed around 2070 calories) and 43 per cent less than the average man in the US in the 1950s (around 3100 calories).13,14 Protein intake was also much lower in Okinawa than elsewhere in Japan and the US; on average 39 g per day, which is equivalent to 9 per cent of calories from protein sources.15 In mainland Japan in 1950, the average consumption of protein was approximately 68 g per day, while in the United States it was 90 g, which corresponds to 13 per cent of total calories. This is quite the opposite of current popular fads that advocate a high-protein, low-carb diet.”
― Luigi Fontana, The Path to Longevity: How to reach 100 with the health and stamina of a 40-year-old

“to family, friends and community; and a noble purpose in life driven by a set of spiritual values.”
― Luigi Fontana, The Path to Longevity: How to reach 100 with the health and stamina of a 40-year-old

“a frugal diet based mainly (but not exclusively) on plant foods; constant physical activity, but without excesses; strong attachment”
― Luigi Fontana, The Path to Longevity: How to reach 100 with the health and stamina of a 40-year-old

“Our thoughts, actions and habits are critical in creating a healthy, happy and fulfilling life. What we eat and what we do shapes not only our metabolic health, but also our emotions, and how our brain processes information and creates thoughts and ideas.”
― Luigi Fontana, The Path to Longevity: How to reach 100 with the health and stamina of a 40-year-old