A nutrition and cancer expert, Dr Valter Longo, has underlined the importance of ‘superfoods’ in achieving a potentially longer lifespan, even up to 110 years. According to Dr Longo, embracing a diet rich in nutrients and occasional fasting is crucial in preventing and fighting serious health conditions, including cancer.
He advocates for what he calls the ‘Longevity Diet’, which is mainly plant-based and shows promise in its anti-cancer and anti-ageing properties, as highlighted by Telecino.
Dr Longo has an ambitious vision for people to live healthily till at least 110 years old. “I want to optimise the chance for people to make it to 110 healthy. That’s it. So, to make it to 110 healthy, you have to solve it all, and it’s a very ambitious plan. And of course if you get cancer or you get diabetes or you get Alzheimer’s, that’s not going to happen. So then the focus, of course, is on healthy longevity for the sake of reaching that goal.”
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His dietary approach, influenced by the consumption patterns of centenarians from various regions, favours a low intake of sugars and starches, abundance in fibre and omega-3, and a moderate protein content. A quirky fact about the diet guru is his fondness for Spanish olives, which are a permanent fixture in his pantry.
Ditching red meats and processed foods could slash cancer risk according to health professionals, with new lifestyle strategies like intermittent fasting and the fasting-mimicking diet (FMD) gaining traction, as reported by Surrey Live. The core of this plan sees improved sleep quality and a drop in insulin levels—key elements in keeping cancer at bay, reports the Mirror.
FMD notably entails 4-5 day stretches of minimal calorie, protein, and sugar consumption while ramping up healthy fats, a regimen that, while needing medical supervision, has shown promise in reducing cancer cell growth and lessening damage to healthy cells during chemotherapy.
However, changing dietary habits isn’t easy, a point conceded by an expert: “The reality is 90 percent of people are never going to change what they eat. Neither the quantities, nor the type. They may make small changes, but they’re not going to make big changes in the long run. They could make big changes for six months, for 12 months and then they’d go back. That’s a reality, right? We have a million studies showing that. So then people should start dealing with that reality.”