Longevity diet+regime from Valter Longo

[mccoy]

Valter Longo is presently considered one of the top (maybe the top one) biogerontologists in the world. He walks his talk and that's most important= he eats what he suggests in his longevity diet, borne out of studies of the diet of centenaries in teh blue zones and in vitro and in vivo studies of yeasts, rats, monkeys, humans. This is the basic outlook. I do not follow such a diet but I'll soon custom-taylor it to my needs. for example, I do not eat fish but I'm going to eat moderate amounts of dairy products. Also, I always include fresh fruit in my diet.
The rationale of his diet is to minimize IGF-1 in blood and to downregulate the mTOR metabolic pathway in the organs at the same time upregulating mTOR in muslce cells (promoting MPS or muscle protein synthesis). This avoids sarcopenia (loss of muscle mass with age)  and osteoporosis. Also insuline signaling is optimized by not eating fruit and simple sugars.

VALTER LONGO
Longevity diet
1.      Vegan + pescetarian
Minimize saturated animal fats and sugars
Legumes as a main source of proteins
Up to 65 or 70 years of age:  0.7 – 0.8 gr/kg/day proteins
Eat large amounts of complex carbs (mainly vegetables and legumes)
50-100 ml of olive oil + one handful of nuts
Fish 2-3 times a week
Supplementation 2-3 times a week
12 hours eating windows
Refrain from eating 3-4 hours before sleep
FMD (fast mimicking diet) 2 to 6 times per year
2 meals per day for overweight people
Check weight plus waist to decide meals per day
3 meals +snack for underweight people
Eat ancestral food (according to your genetic makeup)

Weight Exercises for muscle synthesis
·        60-75% of maximum lift
·        30 grams of proteins 1-2 hours after workout
Practical diet
·        Calories need according to cronometer (BMR + exercise)
·        Increase or decrease calories according to weight and desired trend
·        55-60% carbs (vegetables, cereals, bread, pasta)
·        Max 10 grams per day added sugar
·        30-35% calories fats, most unsaturated
·        10-11% calories proteins (vegetables + fish)
·        One meal low calories and proteins
·        Other meal high calories + at least 30 grams proteins
·        0.8 g kg-1d-1 proteins (more after 65-70 Years)

[mccoy]

This is the basic pattern of Longo's FMD (Fast Mimicking Diet), the real breakthrough of recent nutrition research. I'm goign to experiment it myself as soon as I'll recoup some weight after my low-carb stint.

VALTER LONGO
Fast Mimicking Diet (FMD)
·        Duration 5 days
·        Frequency once every 1 to 6 months
·        Day 1: 1100 kcal
o   500 kCal complex carbs (vegetables as broccoli, tomatoes, carrots, squash, mushrooms...)
o   500 kCal healthy fats (walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts, olive oil)
o   Vitamins+minerals supplementation
o   Omega 3-6 supplementation
o   Unsweetened tea (up to 3-4 cups per day)
o   25 grams vegetable proteins (mainly from nuts)
o   Water ad libitum
·        Days 2 to 5:
o   400 kCal complex carbs (vegetables as broccoli, tomatoes, carrots, squash, mushrooms...)
o   400 kCal healthy fats (walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts, olive oil)
o   Vitamins+minerals supplementation
o   Omega 3-6 supplementation
o   Unsweetened tea (3-4 cups per day)
o   25 grams vegetable proteins (mainly from nuts)
o   Water ad libitum
·        Day 6: transition 24 hours after FMD
o   ‘Complex’ carbs: includes vegetables, cereals, fruit, fruit juices, nuts....
o   Minimize fish, meat, saturated fats, cheese, milk...

Healthy fats are the wollowing: walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts, olive oil.

[mccoy]

Sorry, this is the basic recent scientific reference about the FMD.

http://www.cell.com/cell-metabolism/pdf/S1550-4131(15)00224-7.pdf

[mccoy]

By the way, I didn't write it but I tried Longo's 5-days fast mimicking diet. Good overall effects, minimum drawbacks. Going to repeat it in a few moths. I basically ate 3 pounds of non-starchy vegetables a day, plus very little nuts and olive oil. Last day I was not hungry at all.