Ever since humans have evolved beyond the point of needing to focus exclusively on survival, we’ve been in search of the secret to longevity–the fountain of youth. There have been many advancements in understanding how we can live healthier lives, but the allure to live more youthful lives is still strong. These days we refer to it as “anti-aging”: we not only want to live longer, but also with more vitality and vibrancy.
One of the classics in anti-aging medicine is the book “The Longevity Diet” by Valter Longo, PhD, who is director of the Longevity Institute in Southern California. Through his extensive research over several decades, he has developed a diet that mimics the benefits of fasting while avoiding its most common negative side effects: hunger, weakness, blood sugar fluctuation, fatigue and sleeplessness.
His research started in the early 1990’s with the study of rapidly dividing small cell organisms, when he discovered that when calories were restricted the organisms could live up to twice as long, and this caused him to wonder if this same benefit could apply to humans. One of his professors, Dr. Roy Walford, participated in the Biosphere project here in Arizona, where a team of scientists spent two years in a controlled, sealed environment–which included a calorie-restricted diet–to see how humans would fare on space stations. Longo observed that the scientists were very thin and angry when the experiment was over, and we now understand that this kind of restriction is not the most advantageous for our precious gut microbiome, which thrives on dietary diversity. And besides, most of us just wouldn’t like restricting our diets like that for two years straight!
I invite you to read Dr. Longo’s book for the complete fascinating story, but I’ll summarize here: his thirty years of research proves that periodic calorie restricted (fasting-mimicking) episodes can increase the life span in humans up to twenty years! The plan he developed consists of five days of calorie restriction once a month for five months, then repeated again twice a year for life. This makes historical, physiologic sense to me as well: we humans have only had safe ways of storing food through a long winter for around 150 years; prior to this, we fasted often out of necessity. Another benefit to this type of diet is that cancer cells cannot survive well through a fast, which means that continually eating too many calories, as most Americans do today, may be increasing our overall cancer rates.
The types of foods that Dr. Longo found to be most important for longevity came mostly from his native lands near the little town of Molochio, Italy, where people historically have lived to be well over 100 years old. After moving to the US to study biochemistry and nutrition (after switching from his dream to be a rock guitarist) he soon noticed the difference between the American diet and that of his childhood. After eating our heavy, unhealthy-fat-laden diet, he became overweight and fatigued. His native diet contained higher amounts of rich Omega-3 oils (fish and olive oil), vegetables, beans, whole (unprocessed) grains, nuts, seeds and fewer amounts of meats, dairy and high-sugar fruits, while being devoid of deep-fried trans fats and highly processed fast foods. The Mediterraneans also tend to eat only two full meals a day, along with a healthy snack like olives and nuts.
Dr. Longo now offers a five-day packaged fasting-mimicking diet program that gives you easy access to his meal plan, and it’s on sale this month at Nature’s Medicinary. If you’re busy and just want a simple, easy-to-understand way to fast, this is a great alternative. If you have time to read his book (which I highly recommend), there are meal plans in the back that are tasty and fairly easy to prepare.
I tried the packaged meal plan myself (because you know I always like to test out any new products or plans so I can tell you firsthand how it works and feels), and I never felt hungry or uncomfortable like I have with juice or water fasts in the past. I have to say that I felt better on the last day of the fast than I have since I was in my 30’s, and plan to repeat the plan for five more months and continue every six months after. I also lost six pounds in five days!
If you decide to try the plan, please give me your feedback.
Happy fasting and anti-aging!
Dr. Susan
