6
The Longevity Diet as a Way of Life

Ready—Set—Wait

Remember how, in school, you had to address five key points when writing a review or paper: who, what, when, where, how? Let’s do the same thing here.

Who?

You, and the rapidly growing number of people who have decided that the Longevity Diet is the most sensible way to improve health and vitality. But primarily, and most important, you. As you begin to explore and design a healthier life, remember that it is you, yourself that you live with. While that may sound rather trite, the life you move toward should be filled with things you love. And this includes what you eat: Your dietary choices need to reflect the kinds of meals you want to sit down to, not a rigid regimen of foods you don’t enjoy. Using our simple guidelines, you’ll be able to tailor the Longevity Diet to suit your individual taste.
Remember, this is not a “Simon Says” diet. And that is a good thing! The probability of sticking with a cookie-cutter regimen of foods you don’t like is low. Most dieters fall off the bandwagon of programs that require them to eat only specific foods or entirely shun others, or that impose upon them particular mealtimes regardless of how unnatural those may feel. Keep in mind that the Longevity Diet is, in fact, far more than just a diet. It is a lifestyle program that enables you to take control of your body’s health and longevity.

What?

The Longevity Diet, of course!
The Longevity Diet is based on extensive research in a wide variety of disciplines, and is now gaining popularity among open-minded physicians, especially specialists in diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease, autoimmune diseases such as lupus, and inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis.
The Longevity Diet is often described by its practitioners as the “thinking person’s” health program: You will learn about health, you will learn about food, and you will learn about yourself. This knowledge—or rather, this lifelong path of learning—will enable you to modify your regimen over the years, as new research results become available, and your body responds to the program. Flexibility is key to success.

When?

Why not start now? Animal studies have shown that the sooner a CR regimen is adopted, the greater the overall benefits, including an extended, vigorous life span. As Ashley Montagu (1905- 1999), anthropologist and author of On Being Human, said, “The idea is to die young as late in life as possible.” Sounds good to us. And remember Dr. Walford’s words: “It’s a shame to die so young, because it takes so long to learn how to live.” You have many, many years ahead, and potentially more youthful ones, if you start the Longevity Diet now.

Where?

Whether you eat at home, in restaurants, at the office, in social situations, or during travel, even to other cultures, you can adapt the Longevity Diet to wherever you are. The diet is easy to assimilate into everyday life and special occasions alike. And there are no absolutes, as with many other health programs; as noted in our introduction, the occasional “cheat” does not derail the regimen, provided you get back on track as soon as you can. Kim Sandstrom notes that “the times I eat off plan are actually more deliberate than a ‘letting down of my guard,’ and it is easy now, after a year and a half, to get back on the plan at the next meal.”
The first CR Society Conference was held in Las Vegas in 2001. Who showed up? Finally fixing faces with names that we had seen on our e-mail lists and discussion forums, we realized that CR enthusiasts were an eager and motley group of all ages and professions who did not need to wait for a centuries-long human life-span study to believe in and begin a health-promoting diet that could potentially ensure a very long life. We had already come to know intimately such details as our complete blood counts, lipid profiles, and food preferences, as well as the effects of calorie restriction on our respective lifestyles. By way of introduction at the conference, we stated our name, age, and occupation, followed by—just for fun—what we each preferred to eat for breakfast.
“Oatmeal with a few almonds” started off the rounds; “Grapefruit juice and coffee,” said another participant. The variety continued, from egg-white omelets with rye toast and a side of applesauce; to kitchen-sink smoothies; to an oddly precise eight almonds, one brazil nut, three hazelnuts, and four to five macadamia nuts over low-fat cottage cheese.
After a day of presentations on biology, nutrition, longevity, and CR strategies, we were hungry! With such a range of eating strategies, we had a hard time choosing a restaurant: one person was a vegetarian, another preferred raw food, one simply felt like having salmon. In the end, we proceeded to a typical Las Vegas buffet, thinking that there we would each find something that would suit us, and in a way we did—the salad-eaters gathered garnishes from other dishes; the protein-seekers managed with poached salmon. But those were slim pickings from the general fare, and we refrained from protesting to anyone but one another.
In Las Vegas, arguably the adult entertainment capital of the Western world, we thus experienced firsthand the difficulties, even in the supposedly enlightened third millennium, of dining healthily in public. Obviously, the Longevity Diet message had yet to reach such restaurateurs . . . or their typical clientele. And so began our mission. Determined to wave the red flag and offer alternatives, we find now that current statistics on obesity, cancer, diabetes, and heart disease indicate that we didn’t make quite enough noise back in 2001.

How?

Chapters 7 and 8 will spell out strategies to help you adjust your health habits and guide you through a gradual makeover. And it should be a gradual shift; we do not recommend the most extreme Longevity Diet regimen for beginners, even if losing a lot of weight is for you a significant goal. Here is your agenda, in brief: (a) Consult your health-care practitioner before you start. (b) Learn as much as you can about your own baseline biomarkers and nutrition before you make any changes to your diet. (c) Use the worksheets provided for you in chapter 8 to track your progress as you proceed with the diet. (d) Sign up with an online group for pointers (see Resources), so you will have a support system that you know is on a parallel track with you and will be in touch with CR followers if you have any dietary questions we haven’t been able to answer in this book. And (e) Stay current on the latest research, via news media, the Internet, and your personal health community.

Remember, The Longevity Diet Works with Lifestyle

• You can mix and match what you eat—protein, carbohydrate, and fat ratios—as long as you consume a variety of vegetables on a regular basis and observe the nutritional guidelines recommended.
• You can mix and match how you schedule your meals. Depending on your lifestyle, you may prefer to eat your main meal in the morning, or perhaps at night. It is the total caloric content of what you consume across an entire day that counts. Variations in your caloric intake from day to day are okay, as long as the average daily caloric intake remains relatively stable.
• You can mix and match how many times per day you eat, according to your lifestyle and appetite: three regular-size meals a day, one large main meal, or grazing on small meals throughout the day.
• You will discover which foods best fill you up. Some find that protein and fats defer hunger. Others find that low energy-dense foods with a high water content satiate them. It’s up to you how to balance each meal with your appetite and energy needs.

Q: But, What, Exactly, Should I Eat?

Focus first and foremost on vegetables and fruits. Think of them as a rainbow from which you will obtain a broad range of nutrients:
blue—blueberries
purple—red cabbage, kalamata and black olives, Concord grapes, currants, plums, blackberries, figs, eggplants
red—beets, tomatoes (especially cooked tomatoes and tomato sauces), red peppers, red-skinned onions, apples, cherries, red grapes, watermelon, cranberries, strawberries, raspberries, pomegranates, rhubarb
orangecarrots, winter squash, sweet potatoes, cantaloupe and other orange melons, oranges, clementines, tangerines, apricots, peaches, nectarines, mangoes, persimmons, papayas
yellow—summer squash, corn, yellow-skinned onions, bananas, lemons, grapefruit, pineapple, star fruit
green—especially cabbage and Chinese (napa) cabbage, romaine lettuce, bok choy, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, kale, collards, Swiss chard, spinach, beet greens, mustard greens, and turnip greens; but also asparagus, okra, cucumbers, zucchini, green onions and leeks, green peppers, celery, green olives, avocados, pears, green grapes, green apples, kiwis, honeydew and other green melons, limes (remember, wax or green beans and peas are actually legumes—and good for you, too)
white—cauliflower, turnips, rutabagas, white potatoes, garlic, mushrooms, jicama, lychee
Although many phytonutrients have been synthesized and made available in supplement form, we do not recommend them: such supplements leave out important, if not essential, nutrients found only in genuine foods.
Plants won’t be the only thing you’ll be eating, but should and indeed shall form the “bulk” of your diet: Plants are low in calories so you can eat a lot of them, and they provide the fiber to keep your digestive system moving. They also have a low energy density, which means that their water and/or fiber content is high and hence they will satiate you more than the equivalent volume of most nonvegetable foods.
Vegetables can be enjoyed in many different ways—raw as finger foods (the only notable exceptions: potatoes, sweet potatoes, artichokes, okra, and Brussels sprouts), in soups or salads, extracted as juices, steamed, or stir-fried. Fruit can be eaten out of hand or in a salad, but also incorporated into gelled or baked desserts, drunk as juice or blended into smoothies, or frozen as sorbets and granitas. If you’ve always hated a particular vegetable or fruit when prepared a particular way, give it another chance in another form or two before rejecting it entirely—and, if you have never sampled some of the above foods at all, buy them in small quantities and experiment. Discover the heady delights of flavored mustards, nut oils, and herb- or fruit-steeped vinegars; stock your pantry with a variety of spices, low-fat dips, and light sauces. Read vegetarian and vegan cookbooks and magazines for inspiration—but if you like to eat meat, just lessen the quantity of it that you consume, while upping the vegetable count. For example, if you love old-fashioned chicken soup, prepare a potful with only one chicken breast and lots of root vegetables, rather than using a whole chicken plus only one carrot, celery rib, and onion. Substitute more flavorful, nutrient-rich fruits or vegetables than celery when preparing a poultry or fish salad (plain old tuna salad takes on a whole new dimension when paired with grated carrots, chopped red cabbage, chopped fresh cranberries or raspberries, or chopped apple and walnuts). See what happens if you mix various fruit juices with various flavors of soy milk (an amazing combination is mango juice mixed one part to two of chocolate-flavored soy). Play with your food!
When asked for advice on initiating a plant-based Longevity Diet, Dean suggested: “Buy one of everything in the produce aisle, and start chopping and chomping!”

Q: When Should I Eat?

Peter Voss, a CR practitioner of thirteen years, eats many small meals per day. Lisa does not eat until noon, when she will drink a glass of kefir or vegetable juice and have a light protein meal. Dean Pomerleau, a veteran in the CR Society, eats two square meals a day, in the morning and the evening, just as Brian does. And April Smith, a savvy thirty-five-year-old, eats differently every day.
Explore what the best time of day may be for you to eat a protein-rich meal. Some people on the Longevity Diet find that protein is what satiates them the most. If your stomach yells at you in the afternoon, it might make sense to have protein at noon. Or, if you refrain from eating after 7:00 p.m., a strategy adopted by some people on strict versions of the diet, then a high-protein breakfast may be an important meal for you.
Many studies show that most people will be more alert throughout the day if they’ve begun with a nutritious meal. But even though most nutrition and diet books insist that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, it might not work for you. So if you simply don’t like breakfast, and you don’t feel any worse for the wear without it, don’t feel compelled to eat it. Or, if you simply can’t face solids at that hour, a smoothie combining milk or soy milk, such fruit as bananas or blueberries, and a little flaxseed oil might be the perfect compromise.

Q: Wait: Won’t I Be Hungry?

You may be hungry, at least at first. But we encourage you to experiment and learn which foods fill you up the most, what kinds of foods deter your hunger the most, and which of your hunger cues actually don’t relate to food at all, but to particular settings or emotions. (Technically, these are, in fact, three separate issues.) Each of the major elements that make up foods—protein, fats, carbohydrates, fiber, sugar, and water—has a specific effect on satiety, both short-term (degree of fullness) and long-term (degree of hunger deterrence).
Let’s place two meals side by side: One is piled high with a large assortment of vegetables, including spinach, broccoli, cabbage, red pepper, mushrooms, sweet potato, plus some cooked grains, a glass of milk, and a slender piece of meat. This meal is mostly vegetables with 3 ounces (20 grams chicken to 40 grams beef) of protein. It totals 650 calories and is roughly 28 percent protein, 49 percent carbohydrates, and 23 percent healthy fats.
The other meal includes a generous (3.5 ounce) piece of salmon, 1 tablespoon of olive oil-sautéed red pepper fajitas, broccoli, carrots, a sauce made of tomato paste and ricotta cheese, and a glass of milk. This meal totals 640 calories, but the protein and carbohydrate totals are 33 and 32 percent, respectively, while the fat content is 35 percent.
Which meal would you prefer? Nutritionally, they actually differ only slightly: The veggie-based meal is lower in cholesterol and sodium, and it is higher in fiber and has a much higher water content. The salmon and fajitas-based meal is higher in some vitamins. They are both healthy, nutritious meals. But which would fill you up the most?
The vegetable dish is based on one of Dr. Walford’s classic salad recipes (see Dr. Walford’s All-in-One Vegetable Salad). Vegetables have a high water content, plenty of fiber, and are low in calories, hence you can eat a lot of them. This meal will make you feel more immediately full. The fajitas, sautéed in heart-healthy olive oil, along with the additional omega-3 fatty acids in the salmon and the fat content of the ricotta cheese sauce, will take longer to digest, and this may sustain you through your hunger and your stomach through its fantasies. You see, both methods work, see which one works best for you!

Q. How Much Protein Should I Eat?

Some people following the Longevity Diet believe it is important to eat extra protein. There is actually little solid empirical evidence for this, but there are some theoretical reasons why this might be wise. Peter, for example, is especially careful to get lots of protein. According to U.S. government recommendations, he would only need 52 grams of protein for his current weight of 130 pounds. Yet, three years into his CR program, he actually increased his protein intake by 10 grams per day, from 75, already more than the government recommendations would indicate, to 85 grams. We don’t yet know whether unusual increases in protein intake are indicated for most people on CR, but anyone on CR, especially very extreme CR, should, of course, be followed by a physician. Based on your exercise habits and other needs peculiar to your own life and body, you and your physician can determine a level of protein intake that makes sense for you.
Note, however, that during the weight loss phase of the diet, as opposed to the “maintenance phase,” it might be important to get more protein than you otherwise might need. Whether you prefer fish, lean meats, poultry, legumes, or soy products, this is, fortunately, very easy to do!
If you are a vegetarian, low-fat dairy products, legumes, nuts, soy, and perhaps tempeh are already your primary protein sources. Include smaller amounts of grains, brown rice, quinoa, rye, wheat berries, and such whole cereals as amaranth, to build complementary protein sources. If you eat eggs, omelets made with more egg whites than yolks are an excellent source of protein, as are soufflés. These protein recommendations may seem difficult to attain if you are a vegan, that is, if you eat no animal products whatsoever, not even cheese or milk. Lisa was a vegan for six years. The combination, however, of low body fat, menopause, and having practiced calorie restriction for fifteen years primed her for weakening bones. Calcium is an essential nutrient that is difficult to get enough of if you avoid dairy products, even if you conscientiously eat bowls and bowls of green leafy vegetables and lots of tofu. Remember that porous bones are a possible side effect with long-term calorie restriction. So, if you chose to avoid dairy products, consider taking supplements. Lisa now includes kefir, yogurt, and cottage cheese in her diet.

Q. What Kind of Fats Should I Eat?

An oil is an oil when it comes to calories—100 percent fat. But when it comes to nutritional benefits, all oils are not equal. Consume predominantly monounsaturated fats, avoid saturated fats, and aim for more of the omega-3 form of polyunsaturated fats than the omega-6 form. Most oils consist almost entirely of these four types of fat, in different combinations. The most commonly available and healthy monounsaturated fats are olive and canola oils. Canola oil is preferable for baking, and is less expensive than olive oil; it also has more omega-3 than all other commonly available cooking oils. We prefer the taste, however, of olive oil in stir-fries. And there is nothing like the fragrance of a good olive oil in salads!
Evidence suggests that olive oil may protect against breast cancer. 1 A study conducted by the Harvard School of Public Health and the Athens School of Public Health on over 2,000 women indicated a 25 percent reduction in breast cancer for women who ate more than a single serving of olive oil a day. These study results were confirmed in 2008 by research at the Catalonian Institute of Oncology in Spain.2 The bioactivity of polyphenols (natural antioxidants) found in olive oil are able to reduce tumors, and are being researched to develop more effective drugs to combat breast cancer. But remember, be moderate—even olive oil is still 100 percent fat.
Olive oils are pressed from the whole, ripe fruit of the olive, and are hence “fruit” oils, as compared to “seed oils,” such as flax or walnut. Virgin olive oils are the only unrefined oil available to the mass market. By the time an oil is bleached, processed, and deodorized, it is robbed of its natural antioxidants, phytosterols (found in pigment), and other nutrients. Pure olive oils have been refined, despite the contradiction in the name! Light or extra-light olive oils refer to color and flavor, not calories! This olive oil is also refined, stripped of its olive taste and color. Avoid the refined oils, and select extra-virgin or virgin olive oil.
Olive oils are also classified by acidity, color, flavor, and aroma. Their taste varies according to the climate, soil, variety of tree, and ripeness of the fruit when picked. Similar to wine, the etiquette of the lofty olive, called “liquid gold” by Homer, has become quite sophisticated. Oils are graded according to their bitterness, whether they are pungent, fruity, musty, or oxidized (another term for a rancid flavor). Consumer Reports defines fruity as “a high-quality oil that may have the flavor and aroma of ripe olives—nutty, buttery, or floral. Or it can have a ‘green olive’ character, with flavors and aromas reminiscent of grass, vegetables, herbs, green banana, green apple, eucalyptus, or mint.”3
Extra-virgin is the prima donna of olive oils. Generally used in smaller amounts on salads and pasta, a quality extra-virgin olive oil may cost more, but its robust flavor can virtually make the dish. Olive oils that are rich in color are generally more pungent, while the lighter varieties may be mild or even taste-free.
You may prefer a richer extra-virgin olive oil for salads, roasted vegetables, and pasta, but a milder, less expensive virgin olive oil for stir-fries and sautéing.
Flaxseed oil is the richest source of omega-3 fatty acids, among the vegetable oils. We always add a little flaxseed oil to salads. You may also grind flaxseed (available at health food stores) in a coffee grinder and add the ground seeds, rich with their freshly released oil, to your salad, smoothie, or vegetables. Take care never to heat flaxseed oil, though it may be sprinkled on cooked foods. This is the only oil that needs to be kept cool to remain fresh; find it in the refrigerator case at your health food store, and pop it into your fridge as soon as you bring it home.
Walnut and hemp oils are runners-up after olive, canola, and flaxseed oils. They contain a higher percentage of omega-6 fatty acid than the omega-3, but are still healthier than other mainstream fats and oils (butter, soy, safflower), and will offer variety to your meals. Hemp oil has a rich, lightly nutty taste that nicely complements a steamed vegetable salad.
Foods High in Omega-3
Chinook salmon, halibut, scallops, sardines, herring (other fish from very cold waters)
canola, olive, flaxseed, hemp, and walnut oils
flaxseeds, walnuts
kale, collard greens (other green leafy vegetables)
soybeans, navy or kidney beans, tofu
Foods High in Omega-6
corn, safflower, cottonseed, and sunflower oils

Energy Density

Energy density in food is a relative newcomer to many of us, familiar as we are with other measures of nutrition in food, such as RDAs, Daily Food Values, and percentage of calories from protein and fat. Many people on the Longevity Diet simply aim for foods that have high nutrient density. If you are trying to eat fewer calories (i.e., are trying to take in less energy), what matters most is that you get more nutrients per calorie; focusing on foods with high nutrient density is simply a way of achieving that goal.
Energy density is an entirely different measurement of food. And it isn’t precisely the inverse of nutrient density. Around the turn of the twenty-first century, Barbara Rolls, PhD, along with her colleagues at Pennsylvania State University, studied the science of satiety: What makes us feel full when we eat? They compared foods that are high in fat and hence in calories with foods that are low-calorie but have a high water content. Water adds weight and volume to food without adding calories. In their research, subjects reported being satiated by fewer calories on the low energy-dense meals. The researchers drew several conclusions from this: People are sensitive to the volume consumed in the stomach, as well as to portion size.
Consider two plates with the same calorie content, one piled high with vegetables and a small portion of fish, the other with fish and French fries. The oils in the fish and chips meal have a high energy density, and the portion size will be much smaller for the same amount of calories. But the veggie and fish dish provides more nutrient diversity and a richer range of flavors.
Energy density concerns the amount of calories in a set measurement of a particular food versus the quantity you should reasonably eat of that food. For example, 1 ounce of grapes has 20 calories, whereas 1 ounce of raisins has 84. What is the difference? Again, water content matters. Foods that provide many calories in a small portion of food, like the raisins, are high energy-dense foods; foods that feature fewer calories for the same weight of food, the grapes, are low energy-dense. This dietary strategy is now recognized as Volumetrics.4
The water in foods is one of the ingredients that fills you up, as is fiber. Fiber lowers energy density by providing bulk, with few calories. Foods that have both water and fiber, such as fresh vegetables and fruit, soups, healthy cereals with milk, and smoothies, are both filling and, depending on the ingredients, low in calories. If you drink a glass of water before a meal, it will not be nearly as satisfying as when the water is incorporated into the meal, as with a soup. And when combined with fiber-rich foods, water dilutes the calories, and both the fiber and the water fill you up.
Nutrient Density
High nutrient-dense foods are healthy, nutritious foods, packed with vitamins, minerals, and other essential nutrients. Foods can be nutrient dense and be low in calories, or, surprisingly, nutrient dense and high in calories. The staples of the Longevity Diet are foods that are both nutrient dense and low in calories.
 
Energy Density
Low energy-dense foods are high in volume and low in calories. Since water has an energy density of zero, foods with a high water content are low energy-dense foods, and therefore high in volume. Eating these foods means you eat more food yet fewer calories. High energy density means that the energy in the food is dense, and thus smaller; less filling portions contain more calories.
To get the best of both worlds, we should try to eat nutrient-dense /low-calorie meals that are composed of low energy-dense foods. Now that is a tongue twister! But it’s not that complicated: Choose foods that are high in essential nutrients but low in calories and high in volume (fiber, which is indigestible, or water), and you’ll feel satiated yet won’t have eaten a high-calorie meal. A few simple changes to your diet are a good way to start. For example, if you like pasta dishes, use whole-grain pasta instead of noodles made from bleached flour, and add lots of vegetables to the dish. The proportion of vegetables to noodles should be twice as many vegetables, or more, to noodles. You will have a nutrient-rich, low-calorie and low energy-dense meal, due to the high water content in the vegetables. Or, using our grapes and raisins example, a small bunch of red grapes will make you feel fuller, at a cost of far fewer calories, than will a handful of raisins. Compared to apple pie, an apple crisp or even a baked apple stuffed with 1 tablespoon of granola (which has a high energy density) and spices would be better, low energy-dense choices.
At the other extreme: cheese, chocolate, nuts, and chips are high energy-dense foods; their fat content is much higher than that of fresh fruits and vegetables. Some of these foods are nutrient-dense, and in some instances you should chose high energy-dense foods for their nutritional value. The trick is that you need to eat them in small portions. The avocado is a fine example, rich in healthy monounsaturated fats; the 45 calories in one ounce of succulent avocado flesh (roughly one-fourth of a medium-size avocado) will provide 6 percent of your daily values for vitamins E and B6, magnesium, potassium, and fiber. It is, however, a high energy-dense food; hence, guacamole is energy-dense (and we never stop with just one tablespoon on two chips, do we? Try extending guacamole with chopped tomatoes, cilantro, and onions to dilute the density).
See the Food Data table on pages 170-189 for the energy density of foods. Keep in mind that what fills you up in the moment may not deter your hunger over a day as effectively as other types of foods. That is the challenge. Fats may take as long as five to seven hours to digest, proteins take up to four hours, and whole foods or complex carbohydrates take about two hours. Refined sugars pass through really quickly, in only thirty minutes. You will have to experiment a bit to see what suits your particular metabolism and lifestyle. For example, although fats log twice as many calories as carbohydrates, including them in your meals will slow the absorption of other foods, and will therefore help to stave off hunger. Likewise, adding a little protein to a largely carbohydrate meal will deter hunger longer. If you are a night owl who works deep into the wee hours, perhaps your dinnertime should be kicked back to a later hour and that meal contain primarily carbs, to provide you with the energy you need to keep going.

The Calorie Countdown

If you feel burdened by numbers and calculations, then proceed to the Weight Watcher section of this book, page 207. However, if you are a numbers person or a whiz on the computer, you just hit a home run: Following your natural inclination here will reward you with a satisfying transition into life on the Longevity Diet. Some members of the CR Society have designed their own interface to the USDA food database using Excel spreadsheets. Others make use of commercially available nutrition software programs.

What Should You Track? And How Often?

The following chapter will explain how to keep a journal of your meals and how to figure their calorie content. The calories, as well as nutritional content, of what you eat can be averaged over several days—the Longevity Diet is not about a struggle to get precisely 100 percent of all vitamins and minerals every single day. Beyond reducing your intake of calories, your priorities should be:
1. to eat enough protein for your body weight and level of CR (especially if you are a vegetarian)
2. to get adequate amounts of omega-3 fatty acids
3. to eliminate processed foods from your diet
Beyond that, eating enough fiber, low-GI carbohydrates, and foods rich in antioxidants should all be key elements of your Longevity Diet program. But these latter goals can make slow entrances, as you learn to eliminate unhealthy foods from your diet.
In the beginning, do your best to jettison all junk food, all empty calories. However, be compassionate with those moments of surrender to temptation, or the occasional meaningful splurge like a slice of birthday cake. The Longevity Diet is about saying yes to life; you can always make up for a cheese-and-wine sampler the next day with an especially high-nutrition, low-calorie meal. Indeed, in time you will find that a plate of colorful veggies is as much a yes to life as is a celebratory piece of cake with friends. Ultimately, CR can be seen as extending your food options, not restricting them. And it certainly extends your life!
If you are new to watching calories, it does help to read the labels on everything. Brand names, and even similar products produced by the same company, can vary widely in nutrient, fat, sodium, and sugar content. WestSoy, for example, markets regular soy milk, enriched soy milk, and low-fat soy milk. The enriched milk has almost twice the calories! If you include packaged foods in whatever CR program you use, compare the labels occasionally to see whether the manufacturer has changed any elements, particularly if a product has been repackaged as “improved.”

Striking the Right Balance

• Fruits and veggies: Phytonutrient-rich foods must be included. Eat at least seven to nine servings of colorful fruits and vegetables per day, as described on pages 117-118.
• Omega-3 fatty acids: If you’re not a vegetarian it is a good idea to eat at least two servings per week of a fatty fish, in particular, wild Atlantic or canned salmon, sardines, and herring. (As strange as it might sound, mash and eat the bones of canned salmon or sardines along with the fish, for extra calcium.) If you eat meat, choose 100 percent meat in low-fat cuts: lean red meats and pork, the light meat of poultry; avoid deli meats, frankfurters, “mystery meat” fast-food hamburgers, and bacon, all of which are rife with filler, chemicals, and fat. And eat some nuts (but not handfuls at one sitting!), especially walnuts and almonds, which are rich in healthy oils as well as important minerals.
• Healthy oils: When you cook with oils, use primarily monounsaturated fats, such as olive or canola oil. Eliminate trans-fatty acids from your diet; these are found in margarines, dressings, and deep-fried foods. (If you see “hydrogenated” in an ingredients list, the food has trans-fatty acids in it.)
• Calcium: Adequate calcium is especially important in the Longevity Diet; consider supplements, particularly if you avoid dairy products. Get into the habit of using skim or 2% milk rather than whole milk, and choose low-fat yogurts and cheeses. When selecting soy milks and yogurts, remember to read the ingredients label showing the vitamin and mineral content: some (even made by the same company) are more enriched than others.
• Choose whole grains over enriched grains: Choose whole wheat or multigrain artisan breads, brown rice rather than white rice, whole-grain pasta. Add legumes to your diet in the form of beans and peas, legume-based soups, peanut butter, hummus, soy products, and bean sprouts.
• Plant proteins: Don’t neglect plant proteins if you’re a vegetarian. Vegetarians should consider eating tempeh, seitan, calcium-fortified tofu, legumes, and low-fat soy products.
• Fiber: Adequate fiber is important: Choose whole foods over processed or refined foods, and do not overcook your grains and vegetables.
• Avoid sugars: Avoid foods high in refined sugar (watch out for corn syrup, pervasive in sweetened soft drinks and juices, even those sold in health food stores). Remember that, though natural, honey, maple syrup, brown rice syrup, and other sweeteners are essentially just sugar.
LOUISE AND RODNEY
When asked if there is a skillful way to practice CR, Louise said that you should be mindful, respect your body, and be aware of what kind of nutrition you personally need. She and her partner, Peter Voss, have been practicing the lifestyle for many years. When I visited them for this interview, Peter mentioned that the whole point is to change habits from destructive unconscious health choices to good ones. He proceeded to serve himself a breakfast with strawberries, papaya, mango, raspberries, and grapes!
Louise says: How did I start? I decided to watch what I was eating, and learn how many calories were in my food. I used to work at the Hilton Corporate office, and they baked fresh scones every morning. So I would begin my morning with a cup of coffee and a scone, and I thought that it was a good breakfast because the scone has blueberries! I thought that a scone only had 150 calories. One day I weighed one, and realized that that single scone was about 500 calories.
Once I found out, I let the scones go. Occasionally I will still have one, but not every day! So I was becoming aware of the calories.
Peter and I started keeping a food diary of everything we ate, and we looked up the calorie content of everything. In the beginning Peter was measuring our food, so I became aware of how much an ounce was, and what a portion size was. That also helped me realize how many calories I was really eating. It would drive me crazy, though, to weigh food,
I cannot do that now! Some people need to do it, but I now know what 4 ounces of salmon looks like, or 4 ounces of filet mignon! I don’t want it to interfere with my life!
Peter and I have diverged on our strategies, as Peter became an enthusiast of eating small meals, and I prefer two ample meals a day. When he consumes small meals, he doesn’t get hungry, nor does he think about food. There are so many ways to practice, but we eat differently.
Some people can graze, some people fast one day a week, some eat one large meal a day. You have to find out what works for you, what the demands of your life are, and what you have the time for. Grazing takes more time. Personally, I need to feel somewhat full after eating to be satisfied.
Rodney says:
CR doesn’t seem to be particularly difficult so far. Perhaps snacking after 7:00 p.m. is something I would like to get better under control. An automatic timed lock on the refrigerator door that unlocks at 6:00 a.m. and locks at 7:00 p.m. might help? Sounds a bit draconian, but might be worth trying!
I started CR quite gradually, by exerting marginally more control over my caloric intake than I was used to. The result has been a weight loss of about half a pound a week. The quality of my diet has always been good, so I tried to cut back on calories by eating fewer starches. I learned what I could to further improve the quality of my meals: I started eating lots of soups, especially homemade, containing all the foods believed to be the healthiest, whether or not the conventional wisdom believes they belong in soup! Multiple vegetable; tomato; miso; commercial chicken noodle with green vegetables added; bean and pea. I avoid fats in general, trans fats and cancer-implicated oils in particular. And I eat at least some fish pretty much every day, 90 percent of it canned—salmon, mackerel, sardines, tuna, or herring.