Fast Mimicking Diet 2 The Human Method Simplified

March 12, 2018

Fast Mimicking Diet 2 The Human Method

 

 References: Longo: The Longevity Diet, ScienceGut,


 Last week we heard about yeast being used to explore what genes are needed to make the right environment for longevity. Valter Longo's hypotheses was that those same genes exist in mammals, humans included. If he could make the same changes in longevity by diet and its effect on genes in mice that he made in yeast, he would have a huge scientific win. He started looking at mice and their genetic code. Mice live about two years and start getting cancer around a year and a half. That makes a useful model. What did he find? The exact same thing. Two key ideas. Extra sugar activate the PKA gene. That causes trouble. Mice with lower PKA activity, live longer. That simple. And extra protein activates the growth hormone receptor and TOR-6SK and increases the level of insulin and insulin like growth factor. Certain amino acids appear to be more potent at activating the TOR-6SK complex, like leucine. which then accelerates aging. That's it. 


The foundation of aging down to two simple key processes. Too much sugar, and too much protein. That duo is the foundation of what Longo called his "basic juvenology research", one of his Five Pillars of Proof. The story is all about the nuance of glucose and protein. Our body runs on glucose. It is our preferred food for our brain, if present. The story is all about how it is delivered and what happens to our bodies if we get too much, too fast. 


When you get low glycemic carbs from vegetables, your blood sugar rises very slowly and you hardly get an insulin response. (For example, it takes 19 cups of asparagus to make 50 grams of glucose). If you have a diet of broccoli, spinach and green beans, you hardly get any insulin spike at all. A substantial portion of those vegetables make it to your colon where the biome in your colon changes those coarse fiber rich foods to short chain fatty acids, just like in gorillas (See this column from 2 weeks ago). Just like with gorillas, a high fiber diet actually results in substantial increase in fatty acids, or fat. Adhering to a Mediterranean Diet appears to make this possible, all due to the activity of the biome in your gut. 


A high protein diet changes your gut biome and increases many markers of cardiovascular disease,TMAO (trimethylamine oxide). So we have seen these changes from other lines of research as well. We are even beginning to understand the incredible complexity of our gut biome. Our colon is there to take high fiber foods and digest them for us, releasing short chain fatty acids, turning low glycemic vegetables into short chain fatty acids. Bacteroidetes are more abundant in the stool samples of those eating a mostly plant-based diet, while Firmicutes were more abundant in those who eat a more animal products diet. From those major families, the specific bacteria Prevotella and Lachnospira were more common in vegetarians and vegans while Streptococcus is more common among the omnivores with higher meat intake. 


 Can we take this to humans with specific guidelines? Well yes. This is what Longo has come up with. Protein should be about 0.31-0.36 grams per pound per day, of which about 40 grams for women weighing 130 and 60 grams for men weighing 200. Once you hit age 65, you likely need a little more protein, but not that much. Just a little. Your diet should be rich in healthy fats like olive oil, fish and coconut oil, walnuts and almonds. These fats essentially do the same process of helping you get more calories from fat, like the gorilla. Trans fats and saturated fats are to be avoided. And there should be plenty of Healthy Carbs - the type that make it to your colon and turn into the short chain fatty acids like beta-hydroxybutyrate. They generally have a glycemic index under 20, or 45 max which would include beans (if you aren't lectin sensitive). The carbs that get digested in your small bowel and make sugar spikes look like ground flours of any kind, sugar in particular, high fructose corn syrup in double particular, fruit juices or too much modern fruit (modern apples are nowhere near the original Himalayan apple - ditto for pears, bananas, on and on that we have altered in the last 100 years to be much richer in sugar). 


Most grains are just too rich in carbs to be too good for you, unless you have changed them to be resistant, usually by cooking and then cooling. Same with potatoes. The original potato from Peru was a fine food with a GI of 40. Now it's a glycemic index of 80-95, unless you boil it and cool it making it resistant. (Is this enough to confuse you a little?) Finally, cut your meals down to 2 and a snack. Try to fit all your food into 11-12 hours of eating and not for 3 hours before bedtime. Breakfast is NOT the meal to skip as there is plenty of evidence that that habit correlates with many illnesses. Ok? Next week, we will discuss how to FAST and do it right so that you kick start your genes into being supercharged. It's cool, and it works. 


WWW. What will work for me. This is evidence based and I get it. I'm so fascinated that I drew my own lab tests and started doing it full bore, as much as can be done living in a modern 8-5 work world. It's the fasting part that has my attention. I've completed my first 5 day session and intend to do it again. It wasn't so hard. More next week. 


 Pop Quiz  

  1. Animal protein appears to shorten longevity? T or F                  Answer: True
  2. We need animal protein to support our healthy brain? T or F          Answer: Again true. Conundrum? Yup. We get B12 only from animal sources. But nature doesn't care much about you once you have made your babies and passed on your genes.
  3. A high carb diet is bad for you. T or F                     Answer: All in the details. High in low glycemic green vegetables, it's very good for you and is actually a high-fat diet because you digest green vegetables into beta-hydroxybutyrate in your gut..
  4. The über enemy of nutrition is?                      Answer: Sugar, fructose in particular when it gets above the 6% found in fruit.
  5. How much protein can I have a day?                  Answer: 0.31-0.16 grams per pound when under 65 A little more after. But not much.
 

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