The Observer: Researchers have identified the diet that gives the ‘best chance’ of living longer and healthier, which includes lentils, beans, some fish as well as nuts and some dark chocolate, avoiding red and processed meat, and eating very little white meat.
And while it provides room to indulge in “some” of your favorite foods, the diet calls for cutting out red meat entirely.
The creators of the system also recommend fasting every day, saying that everything should be eaten within 12 hours.dailymail“.
University of Southern California experts have reviewed hundreds of studies on nutrition over the past decade in their quest to discover which diet “provides the best chance of living longer and healthier.”
Legumes, whole grains, and vegetables are an essential part of your eating plan, as are plenty of nuts and olive oil, some fish are allowed and chicken should still be “very little”.
You should also avoid red or processed meat completely, and cut back on sugar and refined grains, such as white bread, pasta and cereals.
However, the researchers behind the study didn’t specify exactly how much foods people should be eating.
The researchers said that following the diet can “delay aging” and reduce the risk of age-related diseases, including diabetes and cancer.
“This is not just a dietary restriction aimed at weight loss,” said lead author Dr. Walter Longo, an expert in gerontology and biology, but rather is aimed at slowing aging and helping to avoid disease and maintain health into advanced age.
A large body of evidence suggests that these eating patterns promote healthy cell function and prevent obesity, diabetes and cancer.
Dr. Longo and Professor Rosalyn Anderson, an expert on aging from the University of Wisconsin, published their findings in the Journal of Cell.
The studies covered popular diets such as calorie restriction and the high-fat, low-carb keto diet, and also looked at the celebrity-favorite Mediterranean diet in addition to vegetarianism and veganism. Various types of eating patterns, including intermittent fasting, were examined. It is frequent and short-lived, and the researchers compared these diets to the age data of those who followed them.
The ideal diet, according to their findings, included a moderate to high intake of carbohydrates, which made up about half of a person’s daily calories.
It may also include a “low but adequate” amount of protein primarily from plant sources, which makes up about one-tenth of the diet.
One-third of the calories should come from vegetable fats.
They added that people who follow this diet will only eat small amounts of sugar and refined grains.
The Longevity Diet also sees people eat enough food a day for 11 to 12 hours of the day, and every three to four months, people at risk of disease fast for five days.
The researchers said periods of fasting increase autophagy – the body’s way of getting rid of damaged cells – and regeneration of cells in the body’s tissues.
This leads to enhanced metabolic function – the rate at which the body burns calories, and can delay immune swelling – the natural lowered immune function that comes with age.
The study states, “Regulation of this pro-longevity network can delay aging and reduce risk factors and/or the incidence of age-related diseases including diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular disease, and neurodegenerative diseases.”
The researchers noted that the prolonged diet is similar to Mediterranean-style diets – which are largely plant-based or vegan.
The researchers said that people aged 100 or more follow this system, such as Sardinia in Italy, Okinawa in Japan and Loma Linda in California.
The researchers note that the diet cannot be recommended for everyone and should take into account age, health status and genetics, as people over 65 years of age may need more protein to counteract weakness and lose lean body mass.