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Want to live to be 100? Eat your way to it

Author of The Longevity Diet Valter Longo on how the right dietary lifestyle can go a long way to ensuring a long life... a very long life

Valter Longo wants to help you stay alive for as long as you can. We're talking only of factors you can control: diet, lifestyle. The Italian-American doctor (technically: biogerontologist) recently published The Longevity Diet, a book on how to eat right to ward off diseases and the first signs of ageing.
For research, he spoke to centenarians to get an insight into what they do right. There's a lovely video on YouTube of him playing the guitar and singing with an elderly gentleman in Italy. Dr Longo, was, by the way, a second-year music major in Texas at one point, who dropped his plans to be a musician when he saw his relatives in the US battling diabetes and dying young. He believed they didn't have to. And so he began his study of, as Hippocrates said, food as medicine.
The research, besides extensive studies and clinical trials on mice, and the microscopic examination of the behaviour of yeast and bacteria, led Dr Longo to understand what we should be eating and when we should be giving the body a rest from constantly digesting food (more later on the 'Fast Mimicking Diet' and 'Time Restricted Feeding').
One outcome of watching his TED talk, recordings of his presentations and a couple of his other interviews online, is that I have upped my intake of chana (chickpeas) - he's an advocate; in his talks, garbanzo beans keep cropping up. And I don't deprive myself of dark chocolate and coffee, which get a pass. On most days, I swill green tea. Also, I'm trying to regulate my meal timings, and lay my hands on his book.
While listening to Dr Longo's talks, I made notes. Someone asked him for food reccos and he listed, besides Garbanzo beans and chickpeas - black beans, "vegetables in general - green peppers, olive oil is a good one (although I've seen some criticism and want to look into it more carefully, but am not convinced). salmon is pretty good, some concern about the farm-raised ones. tomatoes are good."
He talks in his book about at least two concepts. 'Time Restricted Feeding' is where you basically cut out the midnight snacking and let your body go from dinner to breakfast, 8pm to 8am, without munching on something. And the 'Fast Mimicking Diet' is where every couple of months, for five days, you only eat certain foods that the body needs. There is no starvation. You just bring the body to a state that enhances cell regeneration. Don't try it without getting the complete know-how from the book and getting all your tests done.
From listening to him and reading available excerpts, I have (somewhat) gleaned the science behind such wise nuggets as 'fasting over 12-13 hours is dangerous because you risk gallstones', and to 'not skip breakfast'. By skipping breakfast, you increase your risk of cardiovascular disease. If you have to, skip dinner. You knew this, right?
Excerpts from an email interview:
Over the years, have you stopped being surprised that you gave up studying music and, with it, all plans of being a rock star, to study juventology?
Yes, I knew that I made the right choice when I was on the same flight from Los Angeles to Atlanta with the Foo Fighters, one of the top rock bands in the world, and I thought, "It would be great to play in a few concerts with them, but then I would have to get back to my science and clinical studies."
You've said you can still do as many push-ups as you could in the army 30 years ago. How much did your stint in the army affect your interest in nutrition? And how many push-ups do you do now?
The army taught me not only how to control what type of food I want to eat, but also about the pleasure of having certain foods. I learned that you can be easily fooled by the benefits of certain foods. I still do about 45 push-ups.
You say the ideal food ratio for an everyday diet is 60:30:10. That would be 30 for good fats, 60 for plant-based food and 10 for protein. Are there any exceptions for this? How much is okay to vary?
Sixty for carbohydrates - mostly from legumes and vegetables (low sugar, bread, pasta, rice). Yes, these are general guidelines - and they can be altered based on the person's response and needs.
Moderation, you say, is "a big mistake" because "it gives people an excuse to do whatever they want". But you also believe espresso and dark chocolate are fine, in moderation. How does one strike this balance? And can you tell us about how 'occasional' do occasional treats have to be? Does a cupcake or a bagel once in two weeks count as occasional?
I think 'occasional' and 'moderation' are very different. 'Occasional' means, once every 1-2 weeks, you can have something that is not good for you, like a cupcake. Moderation, instead, to many could mean that you could have 1/3 cupcake and one candy bar every day. It is important not to demonise things that are good for you, like coffee or chocolate, in moderation.
When was the last time you had a cupcake? How disciplined are you?
I'm disciplined, but when I travel, I do eat some sweets that I should not. However, 99 per cent of the time, I follow my recommendations. I don't skip lunch but I may, instead of it, have a 100-calorie healthy snack (low sugar). I do this when I gain some weight. Then, I return to three meals a day plus a snack.
I was struck by what you say about diets needing to be "as close as possible to what people can do and even if you lose some efficacy there, it's okay", as the main thing is "to keep people on it". How tough has it been to explain to people that you're not asking them to starve? Is this seen as a contradiction?
No, in fact, I say "eat more, not less", and eat many of the things that you like, although in some cases, you will have to exclude a number of foods and, for others, modify quantities.
How has your family benefited from your knowledge of nutrition? Do your siblings not let their kids have sugary sodas, thanks to you?
I think my family's diet and health have been greatly influenced by me. Now they consume very little meat and some even do the Fast Mimicking Diet. There is no doubt that they and their children are healthier because of it.

What was it like to work with Morgan Freeman for your TV documentary? Did you manage to influence his diet?
The documentary with Morgan Freeman was very entertaining and I thought he did a great job as a narrator. I got to talk to him off the set too and thought he was a very nice person, but I did not give him dietary recommendations - well, not yet.
Do you only eat organic produce? Is it something you advocate, or would you say eating veggies most of the time - even if inorganic - is good enough?
If you can afford it and find it, organic is preferred. If not, wash the vegetables well with baking soda.
We tend to come across several people around us popping calcium supplements or some combination of zinc, iron, vitamin E, D or B12. What's your take on nutritional supplements?
First, get everything from food. Then, take a multi vitamin and omega 3 fish oil supplement every 3-4 days.
Is it simplistic to say that people just don't know what and when to eat anymore? As you point out, there is just so much confusion and anyone can write a nutrition book, no medical degree needed.
I think, one day, it will be criminal for people who are not qualified to give dietary recommendations. The damage done is great. Can you imagine if an actor said, I read a lot of articles on surgery, so I will do my own surgeries?

The five pillars in your longevity study are juventology, epidemiological studies, clinical studies, studies of centenarians, and studies of complex systems (where you talk of planes and cars). Could you talk about the parallel between car/ plane engines and the human body?
Understanding cars and planes is important because we now know exactly what they are made of and how they work. This allows us to see the consequences of overuse or rusting, for example, and use these observations to protect humans from wear and tear.
There is some criticism of the Fast Mimicking Diet (FMD) online: about how, when you're on it, you're not supposed to exercise, and how it might cause one to miss out on essential micronutrients. What would you say to that?
They are right in saying you should not exercise. This will be done, on average, for five days every four months, so you have plenty of time to exercise between FMDs. They are also right about the micronutrients. This is why we recommend that people only use the clinically tested FMD called Prolon. I do not benefit financially from it. I hope at some point it will be provided for free to people by governments and insurance companies.
If the world followed the Fast Mimicking Diet and you didn't see cakes and pizzas and ice cream, wouldn't the world become a more boring place?
This is a big misconception, since the diet I propose for everyday consumption is the diet of choice of several populations that live for a very long time and don't do it for health purposes. It is simply what they enjoy.
How does one deal with food being 'in your face' the whole time - all these gorgeous pictures of food styling on Instagram, smells of bakeries etc? How have you cultivated that will power and what would your advice be to others?
First of all, it is important to only make changes that you are happy with. This is why the diet I propose is not extreme - it does, however, have rules. With every dietary change, there is going to be a period in which the new diet will be difficult. But, eventually, it will be as easy to follow as the previous diet.
What do people tell you: why do they want to live to be 100?
Many say they want to see their grandchildren grow up but also, that they want to have more time to travel or do things they never had the chance to do before.
Fittingly, you don't look 50. I have to ask: what is the secret? And do you work very hard at looking young?
No, I don't work very hard at it. I follow my own recommendations on diet and exercise and very much enjoy it.
nivriti@khaleejtimes.com