Food is the most important thing for people, and diet directly affects human health. Good and reasonable healthy eating habits are an important aspect of health care, which can make the body grow and develop healthily. Bad eating habits will lead to normal physiological dysfunction and infection. As the saying goes, "food and medicine are of the same origin", a proper diet will have a therapeutic effect on diseases, help the human body restore health, and even affect life expectancy.
Nowadays, fasting has become the new favorite of the scientific community, including time-limited fasting and calorie restriction. However, it is not clear whether these diets can really help people stay healthy and live longer.
On April 28th, 2022, researchers from the University of Southern California and the University of Wisconsin published an online research paper entitled "Nutrition, Longevity and Disease: From Molecular Mechanism to Intervention" in Cell magazine.
The researchers defined the "longevity diet", specifically analyzed when to eat and what to eat to live longer, and let people know more clearly what kind of nutrition can provide the best opportunity for a longer and healthier life.
Researchers explored the relationship between nutrition, fasting, genes and longevity of short-lived species, and linked these relationships with clinical and epidemiological studies of primates and humans (including centenarians), and began to define longevity diet through multi-system and multi-pillar methods.
When to eat?
The researchers reviewed hundreds of studies on nutrition, diseases and longevity of experimental animals and humans, and combined their own studies on nutrition and aging. Including ketogenic diet, vegetarian diet, vegan diet and Mediterranean diet, and also studied various forms of fasting, including short-term diet, intermittent fasting and regular fasting (fasting for two or more days a month).
In addition to examining the longevity data of epidemiological studies, researchers also linked these studies to specific dietary factors, which affected several genetic pathways that regulate the longevity of animals and humans, including insulin, cholesterol and certain protein levels.
Generally speaking, the author thinks that the secret of longevity is to take a proper amount of carbohydrates from unrefined food sources, and a proper amount of protein and enough fat from plant foods to meet about 30% of human energy needs.
In addition, the meal time is controlled within 1 1- 12 hours, and the rest of the time is fasting. Fasting for 5 days every 3-4 months or simulating fasting cycle can also maintain healthy insulin levels and blood pressure.
What to eat?
The researchers described the specific menu of longevity diet in real life.
Including a large number of beans, whole grains and vegetables; Some fish; Do not eat red meat or processed meat, a small amount of white meat; Low-sugar and refined grains; Lots of nuts and olive oil, and some dark chocolate.
Diet regulates health and longevity.
Next step research
The "longevity diet" and the Mediterranean diet have similarities and differences. Mediterranean diet usually appears in Sardinia, Italy, Okinawa, Japan and Loma Linda, California, USA. More than 0/00 people in these places/kloc-are mainly plants, with some seafood, and the protein content is relatively low. However, the longevity diet represents the evolution of these "centenary diets", and the researchers also put forward suggestions to limit food consumption to 12 hours a day and short fasting several times a year.
In addition to the general characteristics, longevity diet should also vary from person to person according to gender, age, health status and genetic factors. For example, people over the age of 65 need more protein to combat lean body weight loss and weakness. Higher protein content is better for people over 65, but not the best for people under 65.
Next, the researchers plan to use a longevity diet to study 500 people in southern Italy.
The researchers stressed that individuals are not advised to try to follow a long-lived diet and should cooperate with the medical team. This is because drastic changes may be harmful, resulting in a large reduction of body fat and muscle. In addition, once people give up a highly restrictive diet, their weight tends to rebound.
Researchers say that longevity diet is not only a dietary restriction aimed at losing weight, but also a lifestyle focused on delaying aging, which can supplement standard medical care. As a preventive measure, it will help to avoid diseases and stay healthy until old age.