Dr Valter Longo, who leads the Longevity Institute at the University of Southern California, has shared some crucial dos and don’ts to increase your life expectancy
Cutting back on one food may help you ‘stay young’, according to a leading specialist. Dr Valter Longo leads the Longevity Institute at the University of Southern California, dedicating his career to researching the biology of ageing and disease.
While most UK adults live to around 80 years old, Dr Longo asserts that you can indeed increase your life expectancy by following various crucial dos and don’ts. Regular exercise and a vitamin-packed diet are among the necessities he recommends, but keeping one thing to a minimum is encouraged too.
Perhaps surprisingly, this is fish, with Dr Longo claiming that just ‘two or three’ portions per week is best for an adult’s ‘longevity diet’. “Eat mostly vegan, plus a little fish,” he wrote in a previous online blog.
“Choose fish, crustaceans, and molluscs with a high omega-3, omega-6, and vitamin B12 content (salmon, anchovies, sardines, cod, sea bream, trout, clams, shrimp. Pay attention to the quality of the fish, choosing those with low levels of mercury.”
As outlined by Dr Longo, fish packed with omega-3s – or ‘healthy fats’ – are particularly beneficial for our wellbeing. Emerging evidence suggests they play several key roles, not only bolstering cognitive function but potentially slashing heart disease risk factors too.
Although this may seem overwhelmingly positive, there are some overlooked downsides of overconsuming fish. These are concerns highlighted by the NHS, with guidance warning that oily varieties ‘usually have higher levels of pollutants than other types of seafood’.
Mercury, an element toxic to humans, is included in this. While the risk of consuming fish is relatively low, high mercury exposure may give rise to seizures, memory loss, numbness and other symptoms.
“We should eat at least one portion (around 140g when cooked) of oily fish a week,” the NHS states. “Oily fish usually have higher levels of pollutants than other types of seafood. For this reason, there are maximum recommendations for the number of portions some groups should be eating each week.”
It adds: “[When pregnant] eating fish is good for your health and the development of your baby. However, pregnant and breastfeeding women should avoid some types of fish and limit the amount they eat of some others. This is because of the levels of mercury and pollutants that some fish can contain.”
Beyond this, Dr Longo also encourages dieters to eat meals within a ‘a twelve-hour period’ every day to reap the most health benefits. Similar beliefs are backed by Professor Tim Spector who recently told the ZOE podcast that it’s worth steering clear of food for at least 12 hours overnight.
“There are a number of reasons for this,” he said. “One is that the body needs time to recover and that it’s part of our circadian rhythms, so all the cells in our body have the same 24-hour clock.”
Within the conversation, Dr Sarah Berry added: “There was a really interesting study that came out last year that I think really nicely illustrates what’s going on by eating late in the day. And in this study they gave people exactly the same food over exactly the same time period, but half of the people had the food slightly earlier in the day and the other half had the same food slightly later in the day.
“…Those people who were having it later in the day, despite eating late in the evening, woke up the next morning lots more hungry than the people who were finishing their food a lot earlier in the day.”
