Key Topics Discussed:

• Integrative Medicine is likely to play a major role in the future of healthcare by combining conventional treatments with evidence-based lifestyle and nutritional interventions.

• The Fasting Mimicking Diet (FMD) is designed to replicate the biological benefits of fasting while still allowing food intake, making it safer and more practical for many people.

• Structured fasting may activate important cellular repair processes, including autophagy, stem cell regeneration and metabolic resetting.

• Short, controlled fasting cycles (such as five days every few months) may support metabolic health and longevity when used appropriately.

• Emerging research suggests fasting approaches may help improve metabolic flexibility and support weight regulation without triggering long-term metabolic slowdown.

• Early clinical research indicates fasting may help reduce certain side effects of cancer treatments and could potentially enhance treatment effectiveness in specific cases.

• Fasting appears to protect healthy cells while making cancer cells more vulnerable to treatments by altering metabolic and growth signalling pathways.

• Refeeding after fasting plays a crucial role in tissue rebuilding and regeneration, highlighting that both phases are important for potential health benefits.

• Pharmaceutical weight-loss drugs can be effective for some individuals, but lifestyle and nutritional approaches may offer more sustainable long-term metabolic support.

• Fasting interventions should always be personalised and carried out under appropriate medical guidance, particularly for individuals with medical conditions or those undergoing cancer treatment.

About our guest:

Dr. Longo is a Professor of Gerontology and Biological Science and Director of the Longevity Institute at the School of Gerontology of the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, one of the world’s leading centers devoted to teaching and research on aging.

Dr. Valter Longo is internationally recognized as an expert in the field of longevity and age-related diseases. After extending the lifespan of a simple organism tenfold by a combination of fasting and genetic mutations and discovering one of the most important pathways in longevity research, his group identified in humans an equivalent mutation associated with protection from cancer, diabetes, cognitive decline, and cardiovascular damage.

His laboratory later described and developed the fasting-mimicking diet and published on its effect on multi-system stem cell activation, reprogramming, and regeneration. This led to over 30 clinical trials on longevity and age-related disease, some demonstrating the effect of fasting-mimicking diet cycles in reducing biological age, causing diabetes regression, and potentially increasing survival in cancer patients.

Professor Longo’s book “Longevity Diet” has reached a global audience. It was translated into 26 languages and distributed in 40 countries. In 2018, Time magazine named him one of the 50 most influential people in healthcare for his research on the fasting-mimicking diet and the Longevity Diet.

Professor Longo received the Nathan Shock Lecture Award from the National Institute on Ageing (NIA/NIH) in 2010, the Vincent Cristofalo ‘Rising Star’ Award for Research on Ageing in 2013, and the Glenn Award for Research in the Biology of Aging in 2016. Recognized as a Highly Cited Researcher in 2021-2024, he ranks among the top 1:1000 most-cited scientists globally with an H-index of 73.

He is the President of the non-profit Create Cures Foundation in the US and the Valter Longo Foundation in Italy. These foundations provide education programs for schools and families, as well as nutritional assistance to prevent and treat cancer, diabetes, autoimmune diseases, and many other illnesses, especially for those in critical health and economic situations.

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