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Professor Valter Longo

Examining a range of nutrition research from studies in laboratory animals to epidemiological research in human populations provides a clearer picture of the best diet for a longer, healthier life, said USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology professor Valter Longo.

In an article that includes a literature review published April 28 in Cell, Longo and coauthor Rozalyn Anderson of the University of Wisconsin describe the longevity diet, a multi-pillar approach based on studies of various aspects of diet, from food composition and calorie intake to the length and frequency of fasting periods.

We explored the link between nutrients, fasting, genes and longevity in short-lived species, and connected these links to clinical and epidemiological studies in primates and humans including centenarians, Longo said. By adopting an approach based on over a century of research, we can begin to define a longevity diet that represents a solid foundation for nutritional recommendations and for future research.

Longo and Anderson reviewed hundreds of studies on nutrition, diseases and longevity in laboratory animals and humans and combined them with their own studies on nutrients and aging. The analysis included popular diets such as the restriction of total calories, the high-fat and low-carbohydrate ketogenic diet, vegetarian and vegan diets, and the Mediterranean diet.

The article also included a review of different forms of fasting, including a short-term diet that mimics the bodys fasting response, intermittent fasting (frequent and short-term) and periodic fasting (two or more days of fasting or fasting-mimicking diets more than twice a month). In addition to examining lifespan data from epidemiological studies, the team linked these studies to specific dietary factors affecting several longevity-regulating genetic pathways shared by animals and humans that also affect markers for disease risk. These include levels of insulin, C-reactive protein, insulin-like growth factor 1, and cholesterol.

The authors report that the key characteristics of the optimal diet appear to be moderate to high carbohydrate intake from non-refined sources, low but sufficient protein from largely plant-based sources, and enough plant-based fats to provide about 30 percent of energy needs. Ideally, the days meals would all occur within a window of 11-12 hours, allowing for a daily period of fasting. Additionally, a 5-day cycle of a fasting or fasting-mimicking diet every 3-4 months may also help reduce insulin resistance, blood pressure and other risk factors for individuals with increased disease risks.

Longo described what a longevity diet could look like in real life: Lots of legumes, whole grains, and vegetables; some fish; no red meat or processed meat and very low white meat; low sugar and refined grains; good levels of nuts and olive oil, and some dark chocolate.

The next step in researching the longevity diet will be a 500-person study taking place in southern Italy, Longo said. The longevity diet bears both similarities and differences to the Mediterranean-style diets often seen in super-aging Blue Zones, including Sardinia, Italy; Okinawa, Japan; and Loma Linda, California. Common diets in these communities known for a high number of people age 100 or older are often largely plant-based or pescatarian and are relatively low in protein. But the longevity diet represents an evolution of these centenarian diets, Longo explained, citing the recommendation for limiting food consumption to 12 hours per day and having several short fasting periods every year.

In addition to the general characteristics, the longevity diet should be adapted to individuals based on sex, age, health status, and genetics, Longo noted. For instance, people over age 65 may need to increase protein in order to counter frailty and loss of lean body mass. Longos own studies illustrated that higher protein amounts were better for people over 65 but not optimal for those under 65, he said.

For people who are looking to optimize their diet for longevity, he said its important to work with healthcare provider specialized in nutrition on personalizing a plan focusing on smaller changes that can be adopted for life, rather than big changes that will cause an harmful major loss of body fat and lean mass, followed by a regain of the fat lost, once the person abandons the very restrictive diet.

The longevity diet is not a dietary restriction intended to only cause weight loss but a lifestyle focused on slowing aging, which can complement standard healthcare and, taken as a preventative measure, will aid in avoiding morbidity and sustaining health into advanced age, Longo said.

The article, Nutrition, longevity and disease: from molecular mechanisms to interventions, was coauthored by Professor Rozalyn M. Anderson of the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. This work was supported in part by awards to Longo, including the Associazione Italiana per la Ricerca sul Cancro (IG#17605 and IG#21820.), the BC161452 grant of the Breast Cancer Research Program (US Department of Defense) and the National Institute on Aging-National Institutes of Health grants P01 AG055369. Anderson is supported by NIH-NIA RF1AG057408, R01AG067330, R01AG074503, Veterans Administration Merit Award BX003846, and by Impetus Grants and the Simons Foundation. This work was made possible by support from the William S. Middleton Memorial Veterans Hospital, Madison, Wisconsin.

Longo is the founder of and has an ownership interest in L-Nutra; the companys food products are used in studies of the fasting-mimicking diet. Longos interest in L-Nutra was disclosed and managed per USCs conflict-of-interest policies. USC has an ownership interest in L-Nutra and the potential to receive royalty payments from L-Nutra. USCs financial interest in the company has been disclosed and managed under USCs institutional conflict-of-interest policies.

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Study: Valter Longo Characterizes Longevity Diet | USC Gerontology

Coupled with a lack of sufficient prevention strategies and clinical interventions for age-related diseases, the enormous growth of the elderly population poses a significant socioeconomic and healthcare challenge worldwide. With life expectancy rising across the globe save for the short-term declines caused by the COVID-19 pandemic more patients are expected to suffer from disease and disability in later life and for more years than before.

As a result, the focus of medicine is expanding to include not just the treatment of acute or chronic illness but also the long-term maintenance of health. The development of modalities for reducing age-associated morbidities and disabilities has become a primary target for investment and innovation in the scientific field.

As our collective understanding of human life evolves, the concept of a healthspan, quantifiable by total years of life with disability or disease (YLD), is becoming more clinically prominent. Similarly, the idea of a lifespan, which can be evaluated using the mortality metric of premature years of life lost (PYLL), has attracted increasing attention as we witness breakthroughs in anti-aging medicine every day. Aiming to enhance the average healthspan while elongating the lifespan, the longevity industry offers a potentially fulfillable promise of semi-immortality and everyone wants in.

The Longevity Market: Current Overview

Anti-aging, longevity science, and life extension are all terms that encompass the emerging, evidence-backed approaches to delaying the onset of age-related health decline while prolonging the human lifespan by intervening in the aging process itself. As an industry, the anti-aging and longevity market has been steadily increasing in size over the past few decades and shows no signs of slowing down with significant investment activity in recent years.

Due in part to major advancements in scientific understanding and technologic capabilities, the industry focus has shifted to an exponential-type medicine, marked by continuous innovation and testing of the limits of the human lifespan. Genome sequencing, epigenetics, exosomes, RNA transcriptomics, and other established and emerging anti-aging therapies are only the tip of the iceberg.

Investing in Longevity Innovation

According to the latest reports, investments in anti-aging and life extension biotechnology are growing exponentially. Some of the largest financial institutions and corporations, along with the worlds wealthiest individuals, are financing this field. Thus, helping to make it one of the fastest-growing sectors in recent history, expected to reach a market size of $64.04 billion by 2026 a 45% increase from 2020.

Ultimately, aging is a diseasea disease that many of the most powerful people on the planet believe can be slowed, stopped, even reversed, Peter Diamandis, founder of XPRIZE Foundation, bestselling author, and key opinion leader in the space writes on his blog. Diamandis highlights the outsized potential for industry growth due to unmet and unmatched needs, which have attracted investors from major corporate entities, including Alphabet, AbbVie, and BlackRock, to private individuals, such as PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel.

This influx of financial capital is set to propel the industry forward for many years to come. According to information platform Crunchbase, 2021 was a record-setting year for new startup unicorns, namely data-driven drug developer Valo Health and AI-based drug developer Insilico Medicine.

That year also witnessed one of the largest funding rounds in the industry: a record-breaking $3 billion in capital for Altos Labs a biotechnology startup focused on cellular rejuvenation and age-related disease reversal from prominent investors, including Jeff Bezos.

As competition in the life extension space grows, the worlds leading entities are making their bids. For instance, technology conglomerate Alphabet is actively working on combating aging and age-related disease via their subsidiary biotechnology company Calico Life Sciences. At the same time, Lineage Cell Therapeutics, funded by BlackRock, Wells Fargo, and other major players, is in the process of developing novel cell therapies for currently unmet clinical needs. Meanwhile, CEO of cryptocurrency giant Coinbase Brian Armstrong recently announced the launch of his epigenetic reprogramming company NewLimit, with an initial investment of $150M and the goal of extending the human healthspan.

Industry Growth Factors

In addition to tremendous financial investment, there are several other factors positively influencing growth in the anti-aging and longevity industry. Firstly, there is a growing demand among the patient population to treat and prevent age-related diseases, which is rising alongside an increased elderly population.

Secondly, technological advancements are making research and development in the space more successful, efficient, and accessible. The ability to produce anti-aging and preventative therapeutics at lower costs with increased efficiency and reliability has the potential to make the quest for immortality more pragmatic.

Finally, the belief that the longevity market may outpace and potentially replace the existing health care market in the long term suggests that the shift within the system away from illness-based to wellness-based may be permanent. Consequently, the longevity ecosystem would present a unique opportunity for all stakeholders to collaborate and innovate at the forefront of aging-related therapeutics, services, and technology.

Challenges and Opportunities Ahead

This burgeoning industry is not without its challenges. While there are still many roadblocks facing this sector including regulatory uncertainty, lack of robust clinical evidence, and consumers misunderstanding the science, these barriers are not insurmountable.

As companies adjust their missions and adapt more long-term longevity strategies to replace the current healthcare model, the paradigm will shift in response. Experts in the field of longevity forecast 2022 and the upcoming few years to be pivotal for the market and the health- and lifespan of the population as a whole. At this point in time, the medical industry is on the precipice of a future few can envision based on a profoundly deepened scope of human life and its limitations.

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Investing in Immortality: The Multibillion-Dollar Longevity Science and Anti-Aging Industry - Anti Aging News

Eating only during your most active time of day, while following a reduced-calorie diet, may lead to a substantially longer life, according to new research conducted on mice.

One recipe for longevity is simple, if not easy to follow: eat less. Restricting calories can lead to a longer, healthier life, as studies have shown in a variety of animals.

Now, new research suggests that the bodys daily rhythms play a significant role in this longevity effect. Eating only during their most active time of day substantially extended the lifespan of mice on a reduced-calorie diet, Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Investigator Joseph Takahashi and colleagues reported in the journal Science on May 5, 2022.

In his teams study of hundreds of mice over four years, a reduced-calorie diet alone extended the animals lives by 10 percent. But feeding mice the diet only at nighttime, when mice are most active, extended life by 35 percent. That combo a reduced-calorie diet plus a nighttime eating schedule tacked on an extra nine months to the animals typical two-year median lifespan. For people, an equivalent plan would limit eating to daytime hours.

Experiments that tested various diet plans in mice found that the animals live longest on a low-calorie diet with daily fasting periods. Credit: Fernando Augusto/http://made-for.studio

The research helps disentangle the controversy around diet plans that emphasize eating only at certain times of day, says Takahashi, a molecular biologist at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. Such plans may not speed weight loss in humans, as a recent study in the New England Journal of Medicine reported, but they could prompt health benefits that add up to a longer lifespan.

Takahashis teams findings highlight the crucial role of metabolism in aging, says Sai Krupa Das, a nutrition scientist at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging who was not involved with the work. This is a very promising and landmark study, she says.

Decades of research has found that calorie restriction extends the lifespan of animals ranging from worms and flies to mice, rats, and primates. Those experiments report weight loss, improved glucose regulation, lower blood pressure, and reduced inflammation.

But it has been difficult to systematically study calorie restriction in people, who cant live in a laboratory and eat measured food portions for their entire lives, Das says. She was part of the research team that conducted the first controlled study of calorie restriction in humans, called the Comprehensive Assessment of Long-term Effects of Reducing Intake of Energy, or CALERIE. In that study, even a modest reduction in calories was remarkably beneficial for reducing signs of aging, Das says.

HHMI Investigator Joseph Takahashis team has discovered that eating a calorie-restricted diet at the right time of day can extend lifespan in mice. Credit: Brandon Wade/AP Images for HHMI

Scientists are just beginning to understand how calorie restriction slows aging at the cellular and genetic level. As an animal ages, genes linked to inflammation tend to become more active, while genes that help regulate metabolism become less active. Takahashis new study found that calorie restriction, especially when timed to the mices active period at night, helped offset these genetic changes as mice aged.

Recent years have seen the rise of many popular diet plans that focus on whats known as intermittent fasting, such as fasting on alternate days or eating only during a period of six to eight hours per day. To unravel the effects of calories, fasting, and daily, or circadian, rhythms on longevity, Takahashis team undertook an extensive four-year experiment. The team housed hundreds of mice with automated feeders to control when and how much each mouse ate for its entire lifespan.

Some of the mice could eat as much as they wanted, while others had their calories restricted by 30 to 40 percent. And those on calorie-restricted diets ate on different schedules. Mice fed the low-calorie diet at night, over either a two-hour or 12-hour period, lived the longest, the team discovered.

The results suggest that time-restricted eating has positive effects on the body, even if it doesnt promote weight loss, as the New England Journal of Medicine study suggested. Takahashi points out that his study likewise found no differences in body weight among mice on different eating schedules however, we found profound differences in lifespan, he says.

Rafael de Cabo, a gerontology researcher at the National Institute on Aging in Baltimore says that the Science paper is a very elegant demonstration that even if you are restricting your calories but you are not [eating at the right times], you do not get the full benefits of caloric restriction.

Takahashi hopes that learning how calorie restriction affects the bodys internal clocks as we age will help scientists find new ways to extend the healthy lifespan of humans. That could come through calorie-restricted diets, or through drugs that mimic those diets effects.

In the meantime, Takahashi is taking a lesson from his mice he restricts his own eating to a 12-hour period. But, he says, if we find a drug that can boost your clock, we can then test that in the laboratory and see if that extends lifespan.

Reference: Circadian alignment of early onset caloric restriction promotes longevity in male C57BL/6J mice by Victoria Acosta-Rodrguez, Filipa Rijo-Ferreira, Mariko Izumo, Pin Xu, Mary Wight-Carter, Carla B. Green and Joseph S. Takahashi, 5 May 2022, Science.DOI: 10.1126/science.abk0297

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Fountain of Youth: Cutting Calories and Eating at the Right Time of Day Leads to a Longer Life - SciTechDaily

OSAKA, Japan Adopting healthier lifestyle habits can lead to a longer life even if youre already in your 80s, a new study reveals.

Researchers from Osaka University say reducing drinking, not smoking, losing weight, and getting more sleep leads to the biggest gains. These habits increased longevity by six years in healthy 40-year-olds, with benefits even more prominent in those twice that age.

Moreover, the benefits also applied to individuals with life-threatening illnesses including cancer, cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, and kidney disease. The study shows it is never too late to give up bad habits and shed extra pounds from middle age onwards. The findings come from a review of almost 50,000 people in Japan, tracked for up to 20 years.

This is a particularly important finding given that the prevalence of chronic disease has increased globally and is a major cause of death in older populations, says senior author Professor Hiroyasu Iso in a university release.

The Osaka University team say taking ownership of your health is key to a pleasurable retirement. They add that idioms and proverbs about how importance it is to maintain good health span all of history. Many of these emphasize the close relationship between health and happiness.

The analysis in the journal Age and Ageing found healthy behaviors have a marked effect on the human lifespan. Adopting five or more healthy habits increased life expectancy even for those over 80 years-old and those with chronic conditions.

Researchers add that lifespan is also dependent on socioeconomic status, policies such as assisted access to healthcare, and lifestyle factors. Between 1988 and 1990, study participants filled in surveys that included questions about diet and exercise, alcohol consumption, smoking status, sleep duration, and their BMI (body mass index). They also reported on any illnesses they dealt with over the years.

The aim of the study was to increase knowledge about what factors contribute to death from cancer and cardiovascular disease. The team awarded points for each healthy behavior and assessed the impact of modifying them on projected lifespan. The project continued until December 2009, by which time nearly 9,000 individuals had died.

The results were very clear. A higher number of modified healthy behaviors was directly associated with great longevity for both men and women, says first author Dr. Ryoto Sakaniwa.

It is one of the first studies to measure the impact of improvements to health behavior among older individuals in a country with a national life expectancy of almost 85 years.

The finding that lifestyle improvements has a positive impact on health despite chronic health conditions and older age is an empowering one, especially given the increasing prevalence of chronic conditions and longer life, the researchers write in a statement.

The findings of this study will contribute to the design of future healthcare settings, public health approaches, and policies that work in partnership with patients to promote healthy lifestyle choices.

South West News Service writer Mark Waghorn contributed to this report.

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Adopting these healthy habits can add years to your life -- even in your 80s - Study Finds

Head lice treatment is advised for those identified with an active infestation. All household members and any close connections should be tested, with those who exhibit symptoms of an active infestation being treated. Some specialists in states such as Philadelphia, PA, feel that preventive therapy is necessary for people who share a bed with actively infected people. Everyone who is infested, including their bedmates, should be treated simultaneously. Longevity Live Partner Content.

Some pediculicides (lice-killing drugs) have an ovicidal effect. Re-treatment is advised for pediculicides that are either mildly ovicidal or not ovicidal. Re-treatment is only advised for more highly ovicidal individuals if live lice are still present several days following treatment.

Before you begin treatment, figure out how your child acquired head lice. Head lice do not leap, do not survive on pets, and have no bearing on personal hygiene. Head-to-head contact is the most typical way for head lice to spread. This indicates that your youngster has contacted someone in states such asHouston, TX, who has head lice. This might happen in or out of school during sports, sleepover parties, or playtime.

Sharing personal objects that come into contact with the head, such as hats, hairbrushes, and hair accessories, is less likely to contract head lice.

Take actions to prevent head lice from spreading to other family members if your kid has been diagnosed with head lice.

Head lice may be controlled by washing hats, pillowcases, and other objects that come into contact with the head in hot water. However, it is not required to sanitize your whole home in states such asKansas City, MO, as head lice transmission from inanimate things is uncommon.

To effectively cure head lice, you must first comprehend your foe. Head lice can take one or more of the following forms.

All three generations of head lice must be nonviable or dead to get rid of head lice for good.

To live, head lice require a human host. Head lice are gone if the hair is gone. While cutting a childs hair may appear to be a drastic measure, it may be the best option for some parents. If your child already has short hair, eliminating their environment may be the best way to deal with head lice.

An over-the-counter head lice treatment, usually in shampoo, is your first line of defense against head lice. The critical differences between treatments are the active component and the stages of head lice it kills. Because most over-the-counter head lice treatments dont kill nits, a second application may be required to eliminate the nymphs after they hatch.

One of the reasons that over-the-counter head lice treatments in states such asRaleigh, NC, fail is that they are not utilized correctly. Parents may divide a single dosage into many applications, or depart from the recommendations in various ways. If you followed the instructions correctly, you should not notice any crawling head lice after the first treatment. However, if youre still seeing live crawlers, you could have skipped a step, or the treatment isnt working for the type of lice your child has.

One of the reasons that over-the-counter head lice treatments in states such asRaleigh, NC, fail is that they are not utilized correctly. Parents may divide a single dosage into many applications, or depart from the recommendations in various ways. If you followed the instructions correctly, you should not notice any crawling head lice after the first treatment. However, if youre still seeing live crawlers, you could have skipped a step, or the treatment isnt working for the type of lice your child has.

Some parents use tea tree oil, mayonnaise, neem oil, vinegar, saline spray, and other home treatments for head lice. Unfortunately, these therapies are inconvenient, time-consuming, and lack scientific backing. If an over-the-counter head lice treatment didnt work, and youre sure your child wasnt re-infested, seek expert help. One way to do this is to search for lice removal near me.This will give you plenty of experts to cater to your needs.

Its conceivable that the head lice are resistant to the active component in your lice treatment. Consult your doctor or a pediatric dermatologist in states likePhiladelphia, PA, for a prescription head lice treatment.

Hot-air approaches are highly successful in destroying nits, but less so in eradicating live lice research. To maximize your chances of removing the tiny buggers, use a hair dryer on freshly washed hair. After administering a chemical lice treatment, however, never use hot air. Some components may be explosive.

Unfortunately, there are no proven head lice preventatives that will keep your child from developing lice in the future. Itching is an allergic reaction to substances found in the saliva of a head louse.

Not all children will suffer itching straight on, but those who have previously had head lice are more likely to develop itching sooner. Searching for lice removal near mewill give you plenty of experts who will be able to detect and treat this behavior early on.

Joshua Merrick entered Emerson College in Boston. While in college, he started to get interested in writing articles. After a while, this work became his permanent activity, which he is engaged in to this day.

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The Best Lice Treatment Near Me - Longevity LIVE - Longevity LIVE