Eat, Fast and Live Longer
Michael Mosley is a man on a mission. When he was in the early stages of type 2 diabetes, he created the documentary Eat, Fast and Live Longer for the BBC, which became a smash hit. Mosley’s Twitter followers tripled overnight, and the previously obscure 5:2 diet, where you alternate fasting days, was everywhere. By changing what he ate, and more importantly, when he ate, Mosley put his diabetes into remission. He also wrote a book, The fast diet, on the topics from the documentary. It’s a quick read – I got through it in an afternoon – with some big ideas.
We have long believed that there’s a link between longevity and calorie restriction. During the Great Depression in the 1930s, life expectancy increased by six years. Fasting also has the potential to make you live longer. This comes from lowering levels of IGF-1 (insulin-like growth factor), which happens both when we fast and calorie restrict. Eating a lot of protein could also affect this hormone. There are links between high levels of IGF-1 and cancer, and by lowering these our cells go into repair mode, rather than run on overdrive.
This is supported by the science of Dr. Valter Longo, who studies longevity in mice and humans. He’s investigated Laron syndrome, a rare form of dwarfism where sufferers are insensitive to growth hormones and have low levels of IGF-1. People with the syndrome appear to be resistant to cancer and diabetes and are also somewhat protected against aging. While an average mouse lives around two years, the Laron dwarf mouse can live twice as long when it’s calorie-restricted. This is the equivalent of a human living to almost 170 years. Not only do these mice live longer, but they also stay healthy during their lifetime.
Fasting is worth investigating. I’d recommend The fast diet book to anyone new to the subject, as it covers a lot of ground without getting too involved with specifics. It includes meal plans for fasting days to help you get started with your diet. For many of us, fasting is easier than calorie restriction. Out of sight, out of mind, as they say.