The Longevity Diet

Eat twice a day plus a snack. Unless your waist circumference and body weight are in the normal or low range, it is best to eat breakfast and one major meal plus a nourishing low-calorie, low-sugar snack daily. If your weight or muscle mass is too low or if it’s dropping against your will, then eat three meals a day plus a snack.

percent increase (5 to 10 grams more per day) is sufficient. Finally, the diet should be free of animal proteins (red meat, white meat, cheese) with the exception of proteins from fish, but relatively high in vegetable proteins (legumes, nuts, etc.) to minimize the former’s negative effects on diseases and maximize the latter’s nourishing effects.

Fasting, which is the focus of much of this book, activates coordinated responses that are in tune with evolution because starvation was encountered by all organisms, starting with bacteria, billions of years before Homo sapiens even existed. For this reason, it is clearly one of the most powerful interventions we can rediscover to promote coordina

cheeses (preferably feta or pecorino) and yogurt made from goat’s milk, all of which are commonly consumed in high-longevity areas.

take a multivitamin, made by a reputable company, that contains at least vitamin D, E, magnesium, vitamin A, calcium, potassium, or vitamin K, every two to three days. As I explained

Consume low but sufficient proteins:

You should also not eat within three to four hours of going to sleep.

(Do not skip breakfast, as this has been associated with increased risk for age-related diseases in multiple studies.)

Follow a diet with high vitamin and mineral content and complete it with a multivitamin buffer every 3 days. Select ingredients among those discussed in this book that your ancestors would have eaten. Based on your weight, age, and abdominal circumference, decide whether to have two or three meals per day (see chapter 8 for diabetes guidelines). If

Eat a variety of foods from your ancestry. To take in all the required nutrients, you need to eat a wide variety of foods, and it’s best to choose from foods that were common on your parents’, grandparents’, and great-grandparents’ table.