What and how should you eat to grow up healthy?

In a new study, two scientists introduced a “long-lived diet.” What does it mean?

Sounds like the diet that makes everyone else obsolete: longevity diet By Valter Longo and Rozalyn Anderson Literally Translate Longevity System. After sifting through hundreds of scientific papers, these two researchers… in the magazine prison cell With some specific advice.

Well, let’s calm expectations right away: if you follow the Longo and Anderson diet, you will not live to be 140 years old. “There is reasonable agreement in science that humans can live to be around 120 years old,” he says. Ranger Whitkamp, Professor of Nutritional Biology at Wageningen & Research University. Maybe we can expand that through genetic interventions one day, but we’re a long way from that. So ‘longer life’ basically means ‘staying healthy for longer’.

Great cleaning

Anyway, we all want to stay healthy for longer. How do we achieve this? To find out, Longo and Anderson put together a long list of studies. Some of these studies focused on short-lived organisms such as yeast and worm cells C. elegans The famous fruit flies, and some on mammals such as mice and monkeys.

These studies indicate, among other things, reduced production growth hormones and the hormone IGF-1 Associated with a longer healthy life. The authors also point to research that would show that limiting a particular amino acid, methionineIt would be useful,” says Whitkamp.

Moreover, the researchers mentioned autophagy: The phenomenon in which cells do a “big clean”, by breaking down damaged proteins and foreign particles within them, among other things. More autophagy will also lead to healthier years.

(many) fewer calories

In order to take advantage of all these beneficial effects, Longo and Anderson came up with a number of concrete recommendations. According to Witkamp, ​​how exactly is not entirely clear. The mainstay of the longevity regimen, he adds, is “calorie restriction.” In other words: reduce the amount of energy you consume, expressed in calories.

“Animal studies suggest that this percentage is as high as 30 to 40 percent,” Whitkamp says. “This is too much, difficult for people to bear and carries the risk of deficiency. Lately a published a human study Which shows that a 14% reduction in energy over two years would have beneficial effects. But the evidence for this is still circumstantial.”

nothing new?

The researchers also tell you what you should eat. Overall: Ideally, 45 to 60 percent of your calories should come from carbohydrates (raw and complex), 10 to 15 percent from protein (mostly vegan), and 25 to 35 percent from fat (most of which are vegetarian too) ). “That’s way too much carbs,” Whitkamp says. “On the other hand, there are opinions that you should eat less carbohydrates and this also seems to make sense for a number of things.”

More specifically, Longo and Anderson recommend a diet rich in legumes, whole grains, nuts, little fish, and as little red and processed meat as possible. “Actually, this is nothing new under the sun,” Whitkamp says. “A diet like this is currently considered optimal by many scientists.”

Fasting for five days

The final pillar of Longo and Anderson’s longevity regimen is fasting. They recommend not eating for 11 to 12 consecutive hours a day. (In other words: No more bag of chips between dinner and breakfast.)

Additionally, they suggest a five-day fast every three to four months. Plus, according to the authors, it’s a good idea Fasting mimics diet to follow. In other words: a diet in which you get enough nutrients and calories, but still have the effect of fasting.

fine print

Good to know Longo has been trying to promote such a fasting diet for a while now. He does so in his book, among other things longevity diet through ProLon weight loss program is very expensive† Also, the fine print at the bottom of the new scientific article notes that the scientist has “patents related to the diet that mimics fasting.” In addition, he is involved in the company L-Nutrawhich “helps people increase longevity through diet and fasting.”

In other words: Longo is not only a pure academic trying to figure out what the ideal diet is, he also wants to make some money from it. This is the well-known scientific journal prison cell It won’t stop him from publishing his new article, but it might be something to consider. This does not change the fact that “eating a varied, moderate and often plant-based diet” is, according to the current state, excellent – albeit not very surprising – nutritional advice.