Valter Longo on Fasting-Mimicking Diets and Longevity

What can fasting teach us about aging, and can the body receive some of its benefits without giving up food completely? Valter Longo, PhD, professor of gerontology and biological sciences, director of the Longevity Institute at the University of Southern California, and author of The Longevity Diet, joins The Future of Medicine for a wide-ranging conversation about nutrition, fasting-mimicking diets, protein, chronic disease, and the biology of longevity. In this episode, Longo traces an unconventional path from aspiring rock guitarist to longevity scientist. He describes how the early death of his grandfather and the striking differences he observed between relatives living in Italy and Chicago helped shape his interest in why people age and develop disease. Longo explains how experiments in yeast led his laboratory to study the effects of sugar, amino acids, and fasting on lifespan. He also discusses the development of the fasting-mimicking diet, a five-day, low-sugar, and low-protein eating plan designed to trigger some of the biological responses associated with fasting while still providing food. The conversation also examines caloric restriction, time-restricted eating, breakfast skipping, and today’s enthusiasm for high-protein diets. Longo distinguishes between short-term changes in weight or metabolic markers and the much harder question of whether a dietary practice improves long-term health. Together, Longo and host Euan Ashley explore what scientists are learning about nutrition and healthy aging, why extreme approaches can carry tradeoffs, and how carefully designed dietary interventions might one day become part of preventive medicine. Thank you for watching! Subscribe for more conversations about groundbreaking medical science and the future of healthcare. Listen to the podcast: https://thefutureofmedicine.buzzsprout.com Subscribe to our channel: @stanforddepartmentofmedicine Learn more about us: https://medicine.stanford.edu Chapters 00:00 Diet Longevity Link 02:53 Music Career Path 06:33 PhD Rock Band Tour 08:49 PhD Pursuit Reason 11:57 Science and Music 15:02 Aging Field Skepticism 18:02 Yeast Aging Study 20:17 Evolutionary Biology 22:59 Fasting Mimicking Diet 26:15 Caloric Restriction Study 30:04 FMD Mouse Study 33:05 Protein Intake Debate 35:43 Fasting: Short vs Long 40:45 FMD Reverses Markers 43:20 FMD: Evolutionary Mode