“Fasting can reprogram the body”

the italian scientist Valter Longo he considers that the magic of the body is “its amazing ability to repair itself and regenerate”, but it is necessary to know “how to activate mechanisms that usually remain off”.

He knows how. studying the longer-lived populations of the world, has delved into how to prevent and cure the diseases of the 21st century through food.

Valter Longo and the diet to live longer and better years

—When are we going to see longevity medicine in consultations?
—More than 5,000 doctors already prescribe it in our network, in the United States, the United Kingdom and Italy.

The idea is to get everywhere, that people and doctors read the book The longevity diet and contact us to train them. And it is that it does not make sense to adopt a strategy for each disease: even if we ended cancer, we would live on average only three more years and then there would always be some other disease. You have to intervene in the longevity process.

—According to the WHO, infections will be the leading cause of death in the world. How would this diet help?
—Diet is nutrition, and infections depend on the weakness of the organism.

If we rejuvenate the body and provide it with the nutrients it needs, infectious diseases have a more difficult time.

—Your studies are based on “youthology”: understanding why we stay young, the link between nutrients and longevity genes…
—Instead of determining – to look for a simile – why and how tires deteriorate, as gerontology would do, we believe that the important thing is how we are going to replace them. That is youth.

Fasting serves to reprogram the body

—How does this diet reprogram the body? What is the mechanism?
—The daily longevity diet, linked to a diet that mimics fasting, can reprogram and protect the body.

The concept is very simple. First, the bad cells that cause the disease are destroyed, then the stem cells are activated, and then new cells are made, regenerating the damaged organ or system.

In interventions with stem cells –in which they are replaced by others–, we still do not eliminate the problem. But diet can do it. And this, which works for many diseases in mice, now we want to test it in humans.

—Proposes several cycles of fasting for 6 months to produce continuous improvement. Is it enough to reverse a disease?
—Yes, regeneration occurs because everything contracts: muscles, system, liver, all the organs. And then to rebuild them, you need stem cells.

In the pancreas we see that the same genes that normally start embryonic development are the ones that act, hundreds of highly coordinated genes, so that the same system is rebuilt.

—Could we activate other biological mechanisms that are turned off, to intervene in regeneration?
—Exercise reactivates the organism, but its effects do not seem to be that great.

After a week on the simulated fasting diet, white blood cells drop by 20%, and when you eat normal again, they go back up another 20%. Exercise is not going to have that effect, but it can be very positive to regenerate muscles and provide well-being.

The diet that Longo proposes is not vegan, but he adapts easily: he takes B12 supplements and replaces fish, meat and eggs with protein vegetables.

The original omnivorous version admits fish as the only proteins of non-vegetable origin (2 or 3 times a week). Excludes red meat and limits poultry and eggs to exceptions. Protein consumption is moderate: 0.8 g per kilogram of body weight until age 65 and then gradually increases.

Abundant complex carbohydrates can be taken, such as legumes and whole grains, accompanied by vegetables, fruit and nuts. Dairy products and sugars should be avoided, and little bread, pasta or rice should be eaten.

Longo allows 2 glasses of wine a day and 2 or 3 cups of coffee. In addition, it gives free rein to healthy fats: olive and coconut oil.

But what makes the diet special is the simulated fasting that is done 2 or 3 times a year if you are healthy, or more depending on the pathology you want to treat. It starts with 1,100 calories on the 1st day and from the 2nd to the 5th it continues with 750, with the support of supplements.

The challenge, that the diet is integrated into the health system

– What is the biggest challenge?
—Getting diet to be integrated into Healthcare to prevent and treat diseases such as multiple sclerosis, cancer, Alzheimer’s, diabetes, fibromyalgia…

It is a great challenge, because in each case it must be used in a way that optimizes its regenerative power, replacing deteriorated cells with new ones. The cycles and frequencies of the diet that mimics fasting in each disease are still being studied. But the book says enough to take it to the doctor and consider what to do.

Are we facing the definitive diet?
—It cannot be said that it is the definitive diet, but the 5 pillars on which it rests are profound.

We have basic research, epidemiological data, the study of centenarians, scientific and clinical trials…

—Does the longevity diet have to go together for life with the one that simulates fasting?
—The longevity diet is what one eats every day in a restricted period of 12 hours, in addition to a simulated fast that must be done periodically: once or twice a year if you are well, and more in case of disturbance.

In 20 years we will have tested this fasting system on thousands of people. But today its benefits are already more powerful than other methods, and without side effects.

—Hospitals such as the Mayo Clinic are testing the Chemoliere diet to reduce the effects of chemo on cancer…
—We have finished the small rehearsals, but we have to finish the big ones. If the result is positive, Spanish oncologists will surely begin to recommend this diet.

—There are many types of cancer. Would it have to be adapted to each case?
-No. The basis of this diet is that it takes into account that a cancer cell does not need growth factors and does not respond to growth blockage.

And this is part of all types of cancer. Cancer cells are also defined because they disobey the order not to eat and then grow, the opposite of normal cells. This makes them more vulnerable, since they need a lot of sugar, and during fasting the cancer cells will not have it.

“Could environmental factors thwart the success of the diet?”
—These diets protect very well from harmful agents because they shield the cells, eliminate the bad ones and generate new ones.

You may have been exposed to a DNA-damaging carcinogen, but on the fasting diet that cell is going to be killed whether it was generated from within or from outside the organism.

—Could it be that fasting is disdained by medical authorities because it is considered an alternative therapy?
—We have done everything necessary so that it is not considered an alternative. We work with Harvard and the best hospitals in the world, they all collaborate.

And the US government gives us tens of thousands of dollars: there is no conspiracy. I think they want this to work. If we continue to spend so much on drugs, we are all going to end up ruined.

Immunotherapy for a cancer patient can run to half a million dollars a year, a hundred times more than diet.

Valter Longo has been studying longevity for 30 years and currently directs the USC Longevity Institute in Los Angeles.

Since 2014, he has directed the Oncology and Longevity program at the FIRC Institute of Molecolare Oncology in Milan, one of the leading centers where he tests the benefits of the “longevity diet”.

For altruistic purposes, the sales of The longevity diet (Ed. Grijalbo) will go to the Creates Cures Foundation, created by him to help patients diagnosed with autoimmune, metabolic, degenerative diseases or cancer, among others, and to open branches in countries where the collection allows free training of professionals.