Dr. Longo discusses his book, The Longevity Diet | Valter Longo
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To establish an optimal diet for longevity, scientists are pursuing various avenues of investigation, including basic and clinical research as well as epidemiological and centenarian studies. By consolidating these approaches, researchers aim to better understand how one's eating pattern affects aging. For example, if basic research reveals that a particular diet is best for longevity, yet no long-lived populations around the world eat this way, then one may choose to be cautious about this diet. In this clip, Dr. Valter Longo discusses his new book "The Longevity Diet" and how his fasting-mimicking diet can treat or prevent several age-related diseases.
Rhonda: Cool. So you have a new book out, called "The Longevity Diet," which is the longevity diet...
Valter: Yeah, "The Longevity Diet," and it's divided into two sections, the first half is all about everyday diet, and in this everyday diet I talk about five pillars of longevity. I basically say let's base the decision on diet on epidemiological studies, centenarian studies, basic research focus on longevity, clinical studies, and studies of complex systems. And complex system being cars and planes. And I always thought that it's very, a very good way to remove, I mean, together with the other four pillars, to remove all the uncertainties and say, well how do systems that we build age? To just get a fundamental understanding of the environment and how the environment affects the complex systems.
So the first health is that. And centenarian groups, the ones that have record longevity from around the world who were really important. You know, for example I always say to people the ketogenic diet, well let's look at groups that have record longevity that use the ketogenic diet. None of them. Right? So, that's very important to say for the safety component once you make a decision about what the science tells you, it's always good to look around the world and say, how commonly used is this diet? And if the answer is, it's not used at all, you're really taking a chance on this diet.
And the other half of the book is about the fasting-mimicking diet, and you know, on normal people, some of the things we discussed, and then a chapter on diabetes type 1 and type 2, there is a chapter on autoimmunities, there's a chapter on Alzheimer's and neurodegeneration, and a chapter on cancer. So it goes through all the major...and a chapter on cardiovascular disease...all the major diseases, and tries to, you know, mostly based on data out there, and combine it with what we learn, to try to provide people with complementary intervention.
So for example if you look at diabetes, basically it says, well, here's what you could do every day, but then you can introduce the periodic fasting-mimicking diet. Of course you're going to need your endocrinologist to make the decision whether this is clinical trial type of intervention or they can actually do it. That is very tricky, so probably best, be best to keep it within a clinical trial. But you know, some endocrinologists may be experienced enough to follow their own patients and allow them to do it.
A neurodegenerative disorder characterized by progressive memory loss, spatial disorientation, cognitive dysfunction, and behavioral changes. The pathological hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease include amyloid-beta plaques, tau tangles, and reduced brain glucose uptake. Most cases of Alzheimer's disease do not run in families and are described as "sporadic." The primary risk factor for sporadic Alzheimer's disease is aging, with prevalence roughly doubling every five years after age 65. Roughly one-third of people aged 85 and older have Alzheimer's. The major genetic risk factor for Alzheimer's is a variant in the apolipoprotein E (APOE) gene called APOE4.
An immune disorder characterized by an immune response to and subsequent destruction of the body’s own tissue. The causes of autoimmune diseases are not known, but a growing body of evidence suggests they may be due to interactions between genetic and environmental factors. Autoimmune diseases affect approximately 7 percent of the population in the United States and are more common in women than in men. Examples include type 1 diabetes, Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, lupus, and multiple sclerosis.
A large class of diseases that involve the heart or blood vessels, including stroke, hypertension, thrombosis, heart failure, atherosclerosis, and more. Cardiovascular disease is often caused by lifestyle factors. As such, up to 90 percent of cardiovascular disease may be preventable.[1]
A person who is 100 or more years old.
A diet that mimics the effects of fasting on markers associated with the stress resistance induced by prolonged fasting, including low levels of glucose and IGF-1, and high levels of ketone bodies and IGFBP-1. More importantly, evidence suggests these changes in the cellular milieu are associated with a sensitization of cancer cells to chemotherapeutic drugs while simultaneously also conferring greater stress resistance to healthy cells.[1] Evidence also continues to emerge that properties of the fasting-mimicking diet, particularly its ability to cause immune cell turnover, may also make it useful in the amelioration of auto-immune diseases like multiple sclerosis.[2]
Fasting-Mimicking Diet Breakdown
- Day 1 - consists of 1,090 total calories (10% protein, 55% fat and 34% carbohydrate)
- Days 2 through 5 - consists of 725 total calories (9% protein, 44% fat and 47% carbohydrate)
[1] Cheng, Chia-Wei, et al. "Prolonged fasting reduces IGF-1/PKA to promote hematopoietic-stem-cell-based regeneration and reverse immunosuppression." Cell Stem Cell 14.6 (2014): 810-823. [2] Choi, In Young, et al. "A diet mimicking fasting promotes regeneration and reduces autoimmunity and multiple sclerosis symptoms." Cell Reports 15.10 (2016): 2136-2146.
A diet that causes the body to oxidize fat to produce ketones for energy. A ketogenic diet is low in carbohydrates and high in proteins and fats. For many years, the ketogenic diet has been used in the clinical setting to reduce seizures in children. It is currently being investigated for the treatment of traumatic brain injury, Alzheimer's disease, weight loss, and cancer.
A broad range of disorders caused by the progressive death of neurons in the central and peripheral nervous systems. Common neurodegenerative diseases include Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, Huntington’s disease, and multiple sclerosis. Although treatments are available for some neurodegenerative diseases, there are currently no cures.
A metabolic disorder characterized by high blood sugar and insulin resistance. Type 2 diabetes is a progressive condition and is typically associated with overweight and low physical activity. Common symptoms include increased thirst, frequent urination, unexplained weight loss, increased hunger, fatigue, and impaired healing. Long-term complications from poorly controlled type 2 diabetes include heart disease, stroke, diabetic retinopathy (and subsequent blindness), kidney failure, and diminished peripheral blood flow which may lead to amputations.
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- Time-restricted eating, a ketogenic diet, and exercise improved cognitive function and markers of metabolism in a woman with ApoE4 and Alzheimer's .
- A clinical trial found a fasting-mimicking diet decreased biomarkers of inflammation in humans. In mice, it reversed pathologies linked to Crohn's.
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