You may have heard about longevity dietand the promise of longer life — but what exactly is it and how does it differ 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 University of Southern California Institute of Longevity. 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 is Said He will live to be 120 on this diet.
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 mineralslow in dietary fiber, antioxidants, saturated fat and sodium, 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’s or sheep’s milk. nutritional profileHowever, there is little evidence that sheep or goat milk provides more health benefits.
Incorporating fermented dairy products (such as cheese and yogurt) into your diet, as recommended by the Longevity Diet, extensive microbiome (good bacteria) than any milk.
Have you seen this diet?
Many of you may recognize this as a familiar eating pattern. mediterranean dietespecially since both feature olive oil as the oil of choice. body of evidence Promotes health, reduces disease risk and promotes longevity.
Diets for longevity are also similar to the evidence-based dietary guidelines of many countries. Australian.
Two-thirds of the foods recommended by the Australian Dietary Guidelines come from plant foods (cereals, grains, legumes, beans, fruits and vegetables). This guideline does not include protein (dried beans, lentils, tofu, etc.) and dairy products ( soy milkyogurt, cheese, as long as they are 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.
of evidence We show that intermittent fasting can improve insulin resistance and improve glycemic control. This can help reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes and other chronic diseases such as heart disease and obesity.
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. worse health outcomes.
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. , 250 mL milk, 3/4 cup lentils, 120 g tofu, 60 g nuts, or 300 mL soy milk. Government recommendation.
most Australians easy to 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 their protein requirements.
In the longevity diet, it is recommended that most proteins come from plant sources or fish. there is. not enough red meat.
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 health organizations, including World Cancer Research Fund, British Heart Foundation and the American Heart Association We 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.
Not mentioned in the longevity diet are: 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.First appearance of this work conversation.
