Cell's latest roundup! Five characteristics of longevity diet, eating incorrectly increases the risk of cancer death by 400%

Editor's Note

This article was translated by the Time School Institute from the recent review of longevity diets published by The Valter Longo team, and the original article was published in the authoritative scientific research journal Cell.

Valter Longo is director of the Institute of Longevity at the University of Southern California and director of the Longevity and Cancer Program at the IFOM Institute in Italy, one of the three largest oncology institutes in Europe. He pioneered the fasting-mimicking method, known as the "father of simulated fasting," and is the author of the international bestseller The Longevity Diet, who was named "The 50 Most Influential People in Healthcare" by Time magazine in 2018.

Also, the importance of diet for health and longevity is self-evident. But what kind of diet can be called a "longevity diet" has always been controversial in the scientific community. In this review, Valter Longo groundbreaks what a "longevity diet" is, starting from hundreds of studies related to nutrition, disease, and longevity, analyzing the benefits of popular diets such as the ketogenic diet and the Mediterranean diet, and finally summarizing a dietary guidance program that teaches us what to eat and how to eat to prolong life.

Paipai has compiled an exclusive fasting practice guide, if the reader is interested, you can send [QE509] to the assistant to collect the guide, assistant v: timepie10

Original link:

https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(22)00398-1

The secret behind dietary longevity extension

In 440 B.C., the ancient Greek physician Hippocrates said, "Let food be your medicine, let medicine be your food." "Later scientific research also proved that healthy eating is indeed one of the most effective anti-aging methods, which can prolong life.

Although the mechanisms by which diet regulate aging vary from species to species, there are some common pathways: the protein-endocrine axis and the sugar-endocrine axis. Whether it's single-celled yeast, or worms with more complex life activities, mice, or even us humans, we can regulate lifespan by targeting these pathways.

No.1

Protein-endocrine axis

The amount of protein and certain amino acids in the diet is positively correlated with growth hormone (GH) signaling and insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) levels. One study found that when the share of calories ingested from protein dropped from 18 percent to 7 percent, the subjects' levels of IGF-1 dropped dramatically by about 30 percent. [1]

The levels of growth factors such as GH and IGF-1 can have a significant impact on longevity. In mouse studies, mice with genetic mutations that resulted in lower GH levels lived 35 to 50 percent longer[2]; people with dwarfism due to growth hormone receptor deficiencies also tended to live longer. [3]

Therefore, we can regulate GH and IGF-1 levels through protein and amino acid intake, thereby prolonging lifespan.

Note: Conserved pathways associated with longevity in yeast, worms, fruit flies, mice

No.2

Sugar-endocrine axis

Sugar plays a central role in signaling to accelerate aging and is closely related to physiological activities such as lipid metabolism, oxidative stress, DNA damage, and apoptosis. Excessive glucose intake accelerates aging by increasing insulin release and activating pro-aging pathways.

Whether it is yeast or humans, limiting glucose intake is one of the secrets to prolonging life.

What is a longevity diet

Knowing the existence of protein-endocrine and sugar-endocrine axes, we can extend our lifespan by adjusting them. But this also brings new problems, many longevity diet studies only look at the impact of a single nutrient on lifespan, not only can not judge the pros and cons of specific dietary regimens, may even draw wrong conclusions, misleading the public.

For example, some studies have found that people with low levels of insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) have an increased risk of death, leading to the health benefits of maintaining higher levels of IGF-1. Consuming more protein and amino acids from the diet can increase IGF-1 levels, so some people may naturally conclude that they should eat more protein if they want to live a long and healthy life. But then studies found that lower or higher levels of IGF-1 increase mortality, which means that more protein is not better.

In this context, the review proposes that in order to demonstrate the effects of a certain nutrient on health and longevity, in addition to its relationship with disease and mortality, it needs to be supported by three other aspects: basic research related to longevity and healthy life; clinical trials with strict control variables; and research on long-lived individuals and populations.

How diet regulates health and longevity

Based on this criterion, the review reviewed hundreds of past diet-related studies and extracted the five characteristics of a longevity diet plan:

1. Medium to high levels of carbohydrates. While many healthy people talk about carbs and discoloration, it is one of the most important nutrients indispensable to the longevity diet, and our need for carbs increases as we age. A 2020 study found that young people had the lowest risk of death when carbohydrates accounted for 42 percent, while older people had the lowest risk of death at 67 percent. [4] When carbohydrate energy is less than 20%, the risk of all-cause death increases by more than 50%. [5]

2. Under the premise of ensuring basic needs, minimizing protein intake can effectively inhibit the growth hormone receptor, IGF-1, insulin activity and TOR-S6K signal to delay aging. But in groups over the age of 65, a low-protein diet is not only not anti-aging, but even further exacerbates weight loss and weakness in the elderly. [1]

3. Healthy fats from plant sources account for 30% of total energy, such as olive oil, nuts, etc.

4. Longevity diet design needs to avoid malnutrition, especially in the elderly aged 65 and over, to ensure adequate intake of nutrients, in order to help prevent weakness and disease caused by reduced bone or muscle mass.

5. In addition to what to eat, when to eat is also very important. Ideally, the daily fasting period in a longevity diet regimen should be between 12-13 hours. At present, the more popular fasting method is fasting for 14-16 hours a day, but it is difficult to adhere to it for a long time, and long fasting without breakfast will also increase the prevalence of cardiovascular disease and even increase the risk of death. [6] In addition, a 5-day fast or simulated fasting diet every 3–4 months is recommended, which helps improve insulin resistance associated with a high-calorie diet and can also lower IGF-1, blood pressure, total cholesterol, and inflammation.

If a reader wants to try a fasting regimen, the Fasting Practice Guide sends [QE509] to the assistant to pick it up, assistant v:timepie10

Popular diet regimens

At present, the more popular anti-aging diet regimens, such as caloric restriction, ketogenic, Mediterranean and other dietary regimens, although not fully in line with the characteristics of the above longevity diet, but also have their own advantages and emphasis, and the review also commented on one by one.

Calorie restriction can improve insulin sensitivity, improve obesity, metabolic homeostasis, and help prevent aging-related diseases such as cancer, cardiovascular disease, and Alzheimer's disease,[7] but age, sex, metabolism, and genetic status at which calorie restriction begins can all affect its longevity benefits.

The ketogenic diet, which sells low-carbon water, medium-high protein and high fat, has effectively improved metabolic, physical and cognitive function indicators in mouse studies, resulting in a slight increase in lifespan. [8] However, studies have shown that a meat-based low-carb diet increases the risk of cancer death by 26% in women and 66% in men, and that consuming too little carb water also increases the risk of all-cause death. [5]

Protein/amino acid restriction diets extend life by lowering levels of the pro-aging factor IGF-1, but protein intake is very complex and needs to be constantly adjusted for age. In younger groups, protein energy contributions greater than 20 percent compared to those with lower protein intake increased the risk of all-cause death by 75 percent and cancer death by 400 percent, but no such association was found in older adults over the age of 65. [1]

A low-fat diet has long been seen as an effective means of combating obesity and cardiovascular-related diseases, but studies have found that a Mediterranean diet that contains healthy fats such as olive oil or nuts is more healthy than a low-fat diet, reducing the incidence of cardiovascular disease by 30%. [9]

Vegan diets have been linked to a lower risk of cancer, hypertension, and diabetes, but at the same time increase the risk of fracture by 43 percent,[10,11] and their health benefits are far inferior to those of a balanced diet based on vegetarianism.

Time Pie reviews

By analyzing the relationship between nutrition, fasting, genes, and longevity of short-lived species, and linking it with clinical and epidemiological studies in primates and humans, the research team finally concluded that the longevity diet plan is actually not much different from the healthy diet we introduced earlier, but once again proved its correctness.

The so-called longevity diet, in the words of corresponding author Valter Longo himself, is: "Plenty of beans, whole grains and vegetables; some fish; reject red and processed meat and eat only a small amount of white meat; reduce sugar and refined grain intake; eat more nuts and olive oil, and eat some dark chocolate as appropriate." ”

However, the review also pointed out the complexity of longevity diets, food composition, calorie intake, length and frequency of fasting periods, gender, age, health status and genetic factors can all affect the longevity effect of diet.

Therefore, even if the longevity diet has its commonality, it cannot go through the world with a set of diets, or it is necessary to adjust it in a timely manner according to its actual situation in order to help prolong life. Fasting and fasting programs are detailed in the "Fasting Practice Guide", send [QE509] to the assistant to collect, assistant v: timepie10

The study's corresponding author and first author, The University of Southern California, Valter Longo, was funded by William Middleton Memorial Veterans Hospital in Madison, Wisconsin.

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