This is the last week of our four part series on how to play hard, work hard, and be fully engaged with family, friends and community for as long as possible. 

As nutrition is one of the key components of longevity, I hoped this post/email would give you compelling data on the best way to eat, but what I have found, is that the most advanced research on nutrition and longevity is not about what types of foods you should or shouldn’t eat. Instead the best research seems to be on  fasting and caloric restriction, neither of which I realize, are very sexy. But the molecular mechanisms that they turn on are pretty amazing. Both signal our cells to clean house (autophagy), stimulate stem cells, change our epigenetics (the expression of our genetic code), change metabolic pathways, turn on longevity genes like the sirtuins, and improve our stress resistance.  [1,2,3,4] Each of these  improvements should help you to play, work and engage longer.

In my practice, I focus mainly on fasting as, honestly, long term caloric restriction (CR) is not sustainable or very fun. Studies like the one conducted in Biosphere 2, which relegated human volunteers for 24 months to severe CR, resulted in cold, irritable people with no sex drive. [5] However, fasting and intermittent fasting seems to hold a lot of promise, and while not appropriate for everyone, the studies are encouraging.

Fasting has specifically been shown to lower the risk of developing cancer, cardiovascular disease, and neurodegenerative disease. [6] Fasting cycles have been shown to work as effectively as chemotherapy in some tumors, and when combined with chemotherapy it appears to enhance the benefits and lower the chemo side-effects. [7] Fasting can also be a very effective way to lower high blood pressure. [8] Fasting has even been shown to improve verbal recall. [9]

A study by de Cabo suggested that eating patterns may play a larger role than diet composition. [10] This finding is particularly interesting given all of the debate around dietary restriction.  There are so many conflicting trials and so much conflicting information in the area of dietary restriction.  Mediterranean, low carb, low fat, paleo, keto, vegan and vegetarian all seem to have studies saying they are the best.  

What is right answer? Evidence suggests that when people stop eating the processed Standard American Diet (SAD) and move to a real foods plan (eating foods devoid of processed and sugary foods), any of these diet styles are an improvement. If we look at the top ten sources of American calories, grain-based desserts like cakes and cookies top the list followed closely by sugary drinks, alcoholic beverages and dairy desserts. [Source: Report of the 2010 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee]

Many patients have asked me about the Netflix show, “The Game Changers.” I propose that when we eliminate the processed and sugary foods and move to a real foods plan whether it’s keto, vegetarian, paleo, low fat or otherwise, we will begin to feel and perform better. If you want a balanced, well-considered perspective on “Game Changers” please see the Peter Attia article.

Getting back to longevity, we know there is a link between sugar and inflammation. You already know the painful consequences of inflammation when you overdo it at the gym, but what you may not be aware of is how inflammation impacts your system when you indulge in too much sugar. I generally suggest avoiding sugary foods such as sodas as well as most processed foods, which can be loaded with hidden sugars. Reducing your sugar intake reduces inflammation, which in turn may slow the aging process.

So how can you eat to live your best life? 

1. Eat “real” foods instead of processed. If you are buying things in box or a can, read labels for grams of sugar and check ingredients.  If you want to get deep in the weeds, I have found Rhonda Patrick's SNP analysis helpful in beginning to understand how different dietary and supplement approaches may affect you based on your genetic profile.

2. Intermittent fasting or time restricted eating may be part of a healthy longevity plan. A Stanford oncology trained friend of mine suggests everyone allow at least 12 hours every night between their last food of the night and breakfast. This allows for autophagy or cell cleaning to occur.

3. A good resource for learning more about how to fast is: “The Complete Guide to Fasting.” I also like the documentary “Eat, Fast, Live Longer.”

4. There are also fasting mimicking diets (FMD's). These are often 3-5 day plans that allow you to consume some food but make your body think it is fasting. Valter Longo a prominent researcher in this field has a commercially available plan called Prolon.  In humans, this FMD lowers inflammation markers, improves blood pressure, enhances cognitive performance, increases circulating stem cells by 800% and lowers biomarkers/risk factors for aging, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer. [11] Each of these improvements should lead to a longer, healthier life.

I personally like the 5 day FMD, Prolon as it has solid research supporting it. I think a five day plan is easy to finish and the perfect amount of time for a re-set.

-Amy

1.Fontana L, Partridge L, Longo V.D. Extending healthy life span—from yeast to humans. Science. 2010; 328: 321-326 
 2 Mattson, W, et al. Flipping the Metabolic Switch: Understanding and Applying Health Benefits of Fasting. Obesity (Silver Spring). 2018 Feb; 26(2): 254–268. doi: 10.1002/oby.22065
3. Haigis MC, Guarente LP. Mammalian sirtuins--emerging roles in physiology, aging, and calorie restriction. Genes Dev. 2006 Nov 1;20(21):2913-21.
 4. Madeo F, De Cabo R. Et al. The search for antiaging interventions: from elixirs to fasting regimens. Cell. 2014; 157: 1515-1526.
 5. Walford R.L. Mock D. Verdery R. MacCallum T. Calorie restriction in biosphere 2: alterations in physiologic, hematologic, hormonal, and biochemical parameters in humans restricted for a 2-year period. J. Gerontol. A Biol. Sci. Med. Sci. 2002; 57: B211-B224.
 6. Longo V.D. Mattson M.P. Fasting: molecular mechanisms and clinical applications. Cell Metab. 2014; 19: 181-192. 
 7. Raffaghello L. Lee C. Safdie F.M. Wei M. Madia F. Bianchi G. Longo V.D. Starvation-dependent differential stress resistance protects normal but not cancer cells against high-dose chemotherapy. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 2008; 105: 8215-8220.
 8. Goldhamer A.C. Lisle D.J. Sultana P. Anderson S.V. Parpia B. Hughes B. Campbell T.C.Medically supervised water-only fasting in the treatment of borderline hypertension. J. Altern. Complement. Med. 2002; 8: 643-650.

9. Madeo F. Et al. Alternate Day Fasting Improves Physiological and Molecular Markers of Aging in Healthy, Non-obese Humans. Cell Metabolism. 2019; 30: 3: 462-476.E5.
 10. de Cabo et al. Daily Fasting Improves Health and Survival in Male Mice Independent of Diet Composition and Calories. Cell Metabolism, 2018; DOI: 10.1016/j.cmet.2018.08.011

11. Wei M, Brandhorst S, Shelehchi M, Mirzaei H, Cheng CW, Budniak J, Groshen S, Mack WJ, Guen E, Di Biase S, Cohen P, Morgan TE, Dorff T, Hong K, Michalsen A, Laviano A, Longo VD. Fasting-mimicking diet and markers/risk factors for aging, diabetes, cancer, and cardiovascular disease. Sci Transl Med. 2017 Feb 15;9(377). doi: 10.1126/scitranslmed.aai8700.

Other related studies:

Mattson M.P. et al. Intermittent fasting dissociates beneficial effects of dietary restriction on glucose metabolism and neuronal resistance to injury from calorie intake. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 2003; 100: 6216-6220

Panda S. et al. Time-restricted feeding is a preventative and therapeutic intervention against diverse nutritional challenges. Cell Metab. 2014; 20: 991-1005

Longo, V.D., Panda S. Fasting, circadian rhythms, and time-restricted feeding in healthy lifespan. Cell Metab. 2016; 23: 1048-1059

Minor R.K. Allard J.S. Younts C.M. Ward T.M., de Cabo R. Dietary interventions to extend life span and health span based on calorie restriction. J. Gerontol. A. Biol. Sci. Med. Sci. 2010; 65: 695-703

Longo et al.  A Periodic Diet that Mimics Fasting Promotes Multi-System Regeneration, Enhanced Cognitive Performance, and Healthspan.
Cell Metab. 2015 Jul 7;22(1):86-99. doi: 10.1016/j.cmet.2015.05.012. Epub 2015 Jun 

This week, we are talking about  what the research really shows on living better, longer and mindfulness.  This is the second part of a four part series on how to play hard, work hard, and be fully engaged with family, friends and community for as long as possible.

I have read many claims of improved aging with mindfulness but wanted to see the data myself, so I took a deep dive into the literature of mindfulness and this is what I found.

As you  probably know, mindfulness can take many forms. Mindfulness is a catch-all  term,  but what I think is at the heart of mindfulness is taking time out, whether through meditation, prayer or simply alone time. The blue zones research has shown most centenarians practiced some form of mindfulness, and research shows that in any form, the simple act of taking time out allows for stress reduction. [1,2]​

Since most of the mindfulness research has been done on meditation, I will focus on that today. Many studies demonstrate that meditation can change the balance of our autonomic nervous system (the part of our nervous system we don’t control)  from that of fight or flight (sympathetic) to that of rest, healing and digestion (parasympathetic). [3,4]  When our sympathetic nervous system is over activated for days, weeks or months we experience more stress and our bodies experience more inflammation. [5]

This implies that if we increase our parasympathetic tone we can improve on our ability to heal, and if we heal better, we will age better. [6] This is exactly what some studies have shown.  Meditation practices as short as 3-4 minutes have been shown to increase parasympathetic tone, decreasing our sympathetic tone with improvements seen in blood pressure, immune function and digestion. [2] 

The benefits of meditations have also been evaluated by prominent researchers like Clifford Saron of UC Davis and Nobel Prize winner Elizabeth Blackburn.  They evaluated aging through the lens of stress hormones and DNA (telomere length).  Telomeres protect your DNA. They are protective caps at the ends of chromosomes.  As people age, telomeres shorten. Chronic stress has also been associated with faster telomere shortening, but the catch 22 is that as telomeres shorten people age more rapidly.  Short telomeres have been linked to minor inconveniences like wrinkles and gray hair as well as larger issues like alzhiemer’s, some cancers and heart disease. 

Dr. Blackburn has evaluated the effect of meditation on both stress levels and telomere length and found meditation is associated with longer telomere length. A summary of her work published in 2011 states, “Given the pattern of associations… meditation may have salutary effects on telomere length`…”[7] In other words, meditation seems to help maintain telomere length. 

Dr. Saron of UC-Davis has also shown that meditation is associated with a lower level of the stress hormone cortisol and increased activity of telomerase (the enzyme that can lengthen telomeres). [8].  His studies have also shown that meditation may improve working memory and DHEA levels.  DHEA is a hormone that declines with age and is associated with improved cognitive performance. 

From a risk-benefit perspective and given improvements seen in cognitive performance, aging and healing, I suggest a daily mindfulness practice to all of my patients. If you are a mindfulness novice, there are a few easy ways to begin. 

• 4-7-8 breaths helps to lower stress levels. To perform a 4-7-8 breath you inhale for a count of 4, hold for a count of 7 and exhale for a count of 8.   Dr. Andrew Weill, a father of integrative medicine also uses it to bring on sleep more quickly. 

 

• Download one of the many apps available that teach mindfulness and meditation. Calm and Headspace are two of the more popular choices.

 

• Try Waking Up, one of my new favorite apps that teaches mindfulness. Unlike many other mindfulness practices that “present meditation like an ancient executive stress ball… Waking up has the goal of allowing you to discover in the laboratory of your own mind.”

That is it for this week.  Next week, we will talk about what the research really shows us on sleep!