While attending the American Academy of Anti-Aging (A4M) World Congress Convention in Las Vegas I heard several lectures on food and nutrition. These lectures changed my perspective on how I see food.
If you have been reading this blog for some time you know I have been a big proponent of high protein, high good fats and low carbohydrates. I prescribed to the belief system somewhere close to the Paleo diet or the Bulletproof diet. There is some strong science and evidence that these types of nutritional consumption can increase health and help you lose weight. I personally went from 208 lbs to 190 lbs eating with this formulation, but my cholesterol levels did increase.
Further studies on this nutritional plan have shown that most people do have some initial weight loss, like I did. The overwhelming evidence provided at A4M on how this type of diet shortens life span had me second guessing what I was doing and recommending.
Several speakers talked about the Mediterranean diet. In study after study this form of eating was clearly the winner when it comes to longevity and healthspan. I already had heard the book the Longevity Diet by Valter Longo PhD from the University of Southern California (USC) on audiobook, but I had not been able to come around to that form of thinking. After attending these lectures and seeing the science behind it I knew that I had to give this another look.
Many times in life with are presented with thought and ideas that challenge our belief systems. I was not ready for this big of a challenge to what I believed when I first hear the audiobook. After listening to world class speakers on this subject my mindset began to shift. I came back from that conference with a new interest in food. I bought the actual book by Dr Longo and read it for real this time, not just listening.
I have already changed the way I eat. My meat consumption has dramatically decreased as has my use of butter. I am eating more grains, legumes, greens, fruits and fish. I have also completed one cycle of the 5-day Fasting Mimicking Diet (FMD) and am currently on day 3 of my second cycle.