Longevity Diet: How Does It Work & Is It Effective

In order to help individuals live longer, healthier lives, biochemist Valter Longo, Ph.D., head of the USC Longevity Institute at the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology, formulated a set of dietary recommendations known as the longevity diet.

The longevity diet suggests eating primarily plant-based foods, with almost no meat or poultry, and occasionally fasting. The diet provides potential health benefits for people of all ages and stages of life, even though it was created with older adults in mind. In this article, we understand what the longevity diet entails and whether or not it is beneficial for us.

How do you follow the longevity diet?

The longevity diet is similar to a vegan diet that allows some seafood and minimal amounts of meat and dairy. It can be maintained permanently and is as much a lifestyle as it is an eating regime. The instructions call for regularly going on a diet that simulates a five-day fast throughout the year.

The longevity diet suggests staying away from meat, poultry, and dairy items because of their high saturated fat content. If eliminating meat and poultry entirely is not feasible, it is advised to keep them to a minimum by incorporating them sparingly into plant-based recipes to provide flavour rather than serving them as the main course.

Regarding dairy consumption, the longevity diet advises converting between cow's milk and cheeses to goat's milk, cheeses, and yogurt, which seem to be rich in minerals and also have anti-inflammatory properties. This is for people who must consume milk and cheese.

The study investigated how the timing of food consumption impacts health and lifespan in addition to what foods may be ideal. Scientists concentrated on several forms of fasting, such as regular intermittent fasting, which limits food intake to a specific number of hours each day, as well as sporadic fasting or diets that imitate fasting but are only followed on one or two days each month.

Is a longevity diet effective?

Another study, published in PLOS Medicine in February of this year, found that adopting a diet high in whole grains, vegetables, legumes, and nuts and low in red or processed meats could extend life expectancy by almost 11 years for women and 13 years for men if started at age 20, and by about 8 years if started at age 60.

However, this does not imply that a longevity diet would be the same for everyone. Furthermore, it doesn't imply that the only thing you should consider to live as long as feasible is eating. Regular exercise and other lifestyle choices also have a significant impact.

The longevity diet is a lifestyle centered on slowing ageing that can complement conventional medicine and when utilised as a preventative tool, can help avoid morbidity and maintain health into old age. It is not a dietary restriction meant to merely produce weight reduction.

You must understand that a balanced diet which includes meat and poultry, provides us with nutrients that might be hard to consume enough of, through a vegetarian diet. Hence, make sure you get the majority of the nutrients your body requires to function properly.

Disclaimer: This content including advice provides generic information only. It is in no way a substitute for a qualified medical opinion. Always consult a specialist or your own doctor for more information. NDTV does not claim responsibility for this information.