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The
internationally renowned, clinically tested, revolutionary
diet program to lose weight, fight disease, and live
a longer, healthier life. Can what you eat determine
how long, and how well, you live? The clinically proven
answer is yes, and THE LONGEVITY DIET
is easier to follow than you’d think. The culmination
of twenty-five years of research on aging, nutrition,
and disease across the globe, this unique program
lays out a simple solution to living to a healthy
old age through nutrition. The key is combining the
healthy everyday eating plan the book outlines, with
the scientifically engineered fasting-mimicking diet,
or FMD; the FMD, done just 3-4 times a year, does
away with the misery and starvation most of us experience
while fasting, allowing you to reap all the beneficial
health effects of a restrictive diet, while avoiding
negative stressors, like low energy and sleeplessness.
Valter Longo, director of the Longevity Institute
at USC and the Program on Longevity and Cancer at
IFOM in Milan, designed the FMD after making a series
of remarkable discoveries in mice, then in humans,
indicating that specific diets can activate stem cells
and promote regeneration and rejuvenation in multiple
organs to significantly reduce risk for diabetes,
cancer, Alzheimer’s, and heart disease. Longo’s
simple pescatarian daily eating plan and the periodic
fasting-mimicking techniques can both yield impressive
results. Low in proteins and sugars and rich in healthy
fats and plant-based foods, The Longevity Diet is
proven to help you. The audiobook version is narrated
by Keith Sellon-Wright.
Jonathan
Lowe: There have been many books on diet related to
disease. Some of the conclusions are that “the
less red meat the better.” Although one says
that there is no link between saturated fat in meat
and heart disease, another points to a link between
the iron in meat (and flour products in America) to
Alzheimers in over 40 people. Sugar and salt play
a big role in diabetes, too. What have your studies
shown?
Valter
Longo: Our studies have shown that a high protein
diet is associated with major increases in overall
and cancer mortality especially if the source of proteins
is mostly animal and only up to age 65. So generally,
our findings are consistent with this above but focus
on the proteins or red meat and show that there are
2 major phases of adult life in which protein intake
should be different.
Jonathan:
Metabolic syndrome from soda, called "liquid
candy?”
Valter:
The problem is not the soda but the empty sugar. You
could get to the same problem with pasta, rice, bread.
However, it is important to point out that the problem
start when you have excess sugar or starches not small
amounts of it.
Jonathan:
A book on coffee—The Mindspan Diet—surprised
me by claiming that light roast beats dark for antioxidants
and health, with dark, burnt beans possibly linked
to cancer. Do you agree?
Valter:
Most research indicates protective effects of coffee
against Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s etc,
so I don’t think we know enough to differentiate
yet. For now I would say that a few cups a day are
good.
Jonathan:My
sister has brain cancer, and had bone cancer. A recent
MRI showed her tumor shrinking slightly. I have been
pushing dark berries and green leafy vegetables on
her, although I can’t get her to exercise. Ideas
for motivation?
Valter:
I would recommend a chronic ketegenic diet plus a
periodic fasting mimicking diet (prolonfmd) plus the
standard of care.
Jonathan:
Foods to avoid at all cost?
Valter:
Red meat, animal fats, high mercury fish.
Jonathan:
What has been the success rate of The Longevity Diet,
and how is it different? FMD?
Valter:
The Longevity Diet book is different since it focuses
on what I call Juventology or the study of youth and
not aging and on the diets and genes that can achieve
this. The FMD is a key component of the Longevity
Diet. The book has been very successful, with over
500,000 copies sold.
Jonathan:
Regarding longevity, do you think we’ll ever
see a drug or pill to increase it, and what methods
seem most promising for research?
Valter:
I think the FMD is the most promising now. Eventually
we will have drugs, but it could take decades.
Jonathan:
Saw a Breakthrough series produced by Ron Howard which
revealed success in treating cancer using a CrispR
genetics approach using the neutered HIV to inject
drugs past the blood/brain barrier. This was a theme
of my novel The Methuselah Gene, fictionally injecting
the longevity gene of a bristlecone pine tree into
mice using a neutered HIV, with Big Pharma reaping
billions. What do you think of exploiters like Martin
Shkreli, whose drug costs $750 a pill?
Valter:
I think his is a bad idea and will cause big problems.
Jonathan:The
wholistic approach to medicine is a lot cheaper for
everyone. How can we fix the system, and what do you
hope people take away from your book on taking control
of their own health?
Valter:
I hope they understand that we need to use a multi
pillar approach to come up with recommendations that
are solid and safe. However, the focus of my book
is on triggering the body’s ability to repair
and regenerate itself to stay younger.
Jonathan:
Do you listen to audiobooks while in the car or exercising?
You recommend them?
Valter:
Yes, I bought a number of audio books. I think they
are great, especially for when you are driving.
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