Eating For Longevity

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Hello, everyone. Welcome to the doctor's Pharmacy. I'm Dr. Mark Hyman. That's Pharmacy within a place for conversations that matter. And if you've ever wondered how to eat for longevity, then you better listen up, because I'm going to tell you about what I learned as I researched my new book called young forever out February 2023. I will encourage you to go pre-order right now. Youngforeverbook.com. there's all kinds of bonuses and free things you get with it. And this week on our special health bite, episode of the Doctor's Pharmacy, we're going to talk about eating for longevity. My favorite topic is food, as you know, I like to eat it. I love to talk about it. So what do we need to eat to live a long, healthy life? Now, nutrition is a very controversial subject. There's more opinions about it than pretty much anything else. I think between religion, politics, and nutrition, you've got the most controversial areas in life. And the truth is we know a lot that it doesn't have to be so controversial. And there may be disagreements around the edges of nutrition science. But for the most part, it's a pretty well-established field where most people really agree. And people bring up controversy in order to actually sell stuff. But I think we need to understand that there are certain principles that are universal. And I found what those are. particularly in my travels around the blue zones, which are the areas in the world where people live the longest. When I discovered about nutrition there was fascinating. And also what I discovered about the science of how to eat, of when to eat and what to eat in order to live a long healthy life. So the question is, what should I eat and what should I avoid? I've written lots of books about this, from Food, what the Heck Should I Eat? to Eat That Get Thin, to the Blood Sugar Solution, to the Pegan Diet, to the Ultra Simple Diet, to the 10 Day Detox Diet. you're probably sick of me right now, but I think I've distilled all of it in this book, Young Forever, which is really important, which is answering the question, what should I eat for longevity? You know, I've been studying this for decades, and I studied. I saw, actually, I think I first came across the whole idea of nutrition and disease when I was in college. I read a book called Nutrition Against Disease over 40 years ago. That's a long time ago. And it highly influenced my thinking. and I've been on this path ever since. The truth is that there are really important principles that we can agree on that are foundational. We need to kind of personalize nutrition. It's not one size fits everybody, but there are few universal principles. First is whatever you're eating, focus on quality. The highest quality food is going to create the highest quality input to your biology. if you're running, for example, your car on dirty fuel, it's not gonna run well. If you run on premium gas, it's gonna run better. So what is a premium gas for our bodies? It's high quality food, which is defined, my view, as the nutrient density of the food. So that's phytochemical richness, the fiber, the vitamins and minerals, the quality of the fats, the quality of the protein, the quality of the carbohydrates, the quality of all the things in our food. really matter. And that's because food is information and it's literally sending instructions with every bite to regulate every function of your body, including the biological process of aging. The second thing is when you eat, think about your food as medicine, not just calories. Think of it as actually medicine that's going to heal or harm you. And it can be good medicine or bad medicine. So make sure you're thinking about your food as medicine. and we'll talk about what that means and also personalize your approach because we're all different. We're all different genetically, metabolically, we're different in terms of our preferences, our culture, what we like, what we don't like. It's important to personalize your approach to diet. There's no one size fits all. So. And also, by the way, your needs for in change over time, your needs change as you age. So it's important to make sure you focus on what works. Now, I've jokingly called my approach to eating the Pegan diet, which was basically a joke because there were so many diet wars and I was on a panel with a cardiologist who was a vegan and another doctor was a paleo doc and they were fighting. I'm like, wow, if you're vegan and you're paleo, I must be Pegan. Everybody laughed, thought it was a good joke, but then I realized it had some staying power because they're really the same in terms of their principles except for where you get protein, right? Equality, lots of fruits and vegetables, lots of nuts and seeds, good quality fats. no processed food, sugar and starch are not so great for you. Really simple principles that we can all agree on. And the whole idea is that it's inclusive, flexible framework that's built on quality principles, based on the food is medicine and based on personalization. And it's designed to be low glycemic, low in starch and sugar because those drive aging, as we talked about in the last podcast, Don Young Forever. It's rich in good fats, which we need for our health. It's anti-inflammatory. it's detoxifying, it balances your hormones, it boosts your metabolic health and energy, it heals your gut and microbiome. These are things we know how to do with food. We can, we know what foods are detoxifying, which foods are anti-inflammatory, which foods help your microbiome, which foods balance your hormones. It's not that hard. We have the science of this. So you want a nutrient dense diet that's rich in a whole host of phytochemicals that we now know are critical in activating some of these longevity switches and pathways in the body. things like polyphenols and antioxidants and also things that help our microbiome, which is really important. So we can eat foods that regenerate human health and also planetary health, which are really not separable. I mean, we really have to understand our bodies are part of the earth. We are the earth. The earth is us. And if we're growing food that's destroying the planet, that food's also destroying us. Think of, like, all the cornfields and the processed soy and the and the, you know, immense amounts of ultra processed food that comes from wheat, corn and soy that are killing us, but also harming the planet by our industrial agriculture. So all these principles are really important in terms of what we should be eating. So let's talk about what we should eat from the plant world. Well, pretty much everything. I mean, most of our diet should be plants, lots and lots of plant foods with lots of colors, lots of variety and lots of diversity. diversity and even wild food. So most of your plate should be veggies, 70, 80% and lots of colors, right? Non-starchy veggies are the best, but sometimes winter squash, sweet potatoes are fine in moderation if you're not diabetic. Lots of colors, green, blues, purples, yellows, oranges, all that stuff. Try organic when you can, regenerative when possible, which is being more available. Eat wild foods when you can, which are way higher in phytochemicals. Use the Dirty Dozen and Clean 15 lists from the Environmental Working Group, ewg.org, so you can learn which foods you can consume that aren't all contaminated with pesticides. And some foods like bananas or avocados doesn't matter so much because you can peel them, but things like strawberries are terrible if you eat them that are not organic. Really important. So we can, we can really upgrade our diet by focusing on a nutrient dense, colorful diet full of plants. And, I mean, if you can grow your own grade, if you go to farmers market grade, if you can get them from a community supported agriculture system, that's great. But the closer they are to their original heirloom forms, the closer they are to being grown in a way that is actually regenerative and organic, much, much better for you. What about fruit? Fruit's great, fruit isn't bad. It's what you eat that's got fructose in it that's not fruit, like high fructose corn syrup that's bad. So, you know, for some of us who are diabetic or very overweight, you got to be careful, more careful with things like, for example, bananas or pineapples or grapes, which are super sugary. You stick with more berries and kiwis, watermelon. Those tend to be lower glycemic. But make sure you, if you're going to eat food, you eat the whole food. You don't eat, obviously, an empty stomach or fruit juice, which is terrible because that actually can absorb sugar more. Dried food, not a good thing for most people. It's like, think of it as candy. It's okay a little bit, but. not too much. If you're not sure about how food's affecting you, you can use a continuous glucose monitor. And they're gonna become more and more available. There's a company called Levels that I'm an advisor for, and basically wear this patch on your arm and it can measure your blood sugar continuously. And you'll be surprised, oh, God, if I eat plums, my blood sugar goes off the chart. But if I eat a strawberry, I'm fine. So I think we can learn a lot about how our individual bodies respond to different things by using these continuous glucose monitors. Next up is fat. What should we eat in terms of fat? Well, I've written a book about this, Eat Fat, Get Thin, but basically you want fat from whole foods. Nuts, seeds, avocados, pasture-rich eggs, small fatty fish like sardines, mackerel, herring, anchovies. Certain processed foods are fine. Olive oil is a processed food, extra virgin olive oil made in a special way that doesn't degrade the oil is important. Make sure you don't leave it out in the light. Avocado oil can be used for higher heat cooking. I mean, I think coconut oil can be fine, organic extra virgin. But for example, I'm what we call lean mass hyper responder where I've got very, I'm very lean, but my body doesn't like as much saturated fat. So if I eat too much saturated fat, I spike my cholesterol. Many people don't. I've had people drop their cholesterol 100 points eating a diet of coconut oil and butter. It really depends on your own biology. So it's important to check that. Lots of nuts and seeds. They're great for weight loss, diabetes, heart disease, dementia. They're full of minerals. They've got protein, they've got good fats, lots of fiber. What should you eat? Almonds, walnuts, pecans, hazelnuts, macadamia, pumpkin seeds, chia, hemp, sesame seeds, all great. Include those in your diet. I had a salad the other day. I put avocados, I put olive oil, I put pumpkin seeds in it. What about meat? Well, that's really controversial. I could do a literally a three hour podcast just on meat. not going to, don't worry, at least not right now. But, you know, meat is not bad. If you're eating industrial meat, that's bad. If you're eating factory farm meat, that's bad. If you're eating meat or dairy from animals that have been raised in ways that are destroying the environment and the climate, that's bad. But if you're eating meat that's regenerative, if you're eating wild animals, for example, you're a hunter, deer, elk, if you're eating animals that eat more of a natural diet of grass and a wide variety of plants, they actually can be rich in phytochemicals. They can be anti-inflammatory, they can be very important. And it's important to get quality protein as you age because you lose muscle. So it's really critical that you don't have a deficit of protein as you get older, because one of the keys to longevity is keeping muscle. And the only way to build muscle is with other protein or other muscle. Muscle is the best way to gain muscle, eating muscle, which is essentially meat. So I think it's important. You can actually supplement with plant protein. Plant proteins can work. For example, I'm in Costa Rica now, one of the blue zones, and I couldn't find the goat whey protein I like, but they had this plant protein. But it was sort of jacked up. It actually was jacked up with extra amino acids and extra leucine. so it had 30 grams of protein, but it had two and a half grams of leucine, which is important for building muscle. So you can hack plant proteins, but it's much harder to use those for, for building, building muscle. If you're going to eat meat, make sure it's regenerative, grass-fed, organic, impossible, better for you, better for the planet, more humane. And, and you can get these now. There's a lot of places, force of nature, wild pastures, North Star bison. I mean, you can get a lot of these. incredible online services that will ship to you directly and aren't really that expensive. So really important. What about eggs? Eggs are okay. Don't be afraid of eggs, even though they have cholesterol. That's been debunked. Even the dietary guidelines have gotten rid of that recommendation. They're a great source of protein, vitamins, B12, lots of choline, which is great for your brain, liver, obviously by pasture raised eggs when possible. Really important. Not pasteurized, but pasture raised. What about fish? Fish is great. unfortunately polluted the oceans. Most fish is full of microplastics and mercury. There was a company that I recently found out about called SeaTopia.Fish. SeaTopia.Fish, when they've sourced aquaculture that's regenerative, that's clean fish that's tested for every metal, is super low. So I think it's important. There's also small fish you can eat like anchovies, mackerel, herring, and sardines, which people don't like, but I love them. what about grains and beans? Grains and beans are okay, but it depends on your biology. If you are diabetic, if you're massively overweight, if you have trouble with belly fat, you might want to go for a short time without them because they can actually trigger insulin spike. You have to be careful. And you can wear a continuous glucose monitor, see what happens. Oh, I have a cup of rice, what happens? Or I have, you know, pasta, what happens? You can see what happens as you eat these foods instead of just guessing. And rather than you know, be connected to some ideology, look at your own biology and find out what's really going on inside of you. So if you're going to eat grains, eat whole grains, not whole grain flours, like, you know, you can eat black rice, quinoa, teff, buckwheat, Himalayan, taro, buckwheat is amazing. You can, you can actually get these ancient forms of wheat, like corn, wheat, emmer wheat, if you're, if you're not gluten sensitive. So lots of these are fine. Be sure not to overdose on them because even, you know, a lot of grains can be trouble if, unless you're just exercising like crazy, then you can tolerate more carbohydrate. same thing with beans. You know, beans are great. Make sure you cook them right. You need to pressure cook them, soak them. You can cook them with kombu, which is a seaweed that prevents some of the gassy stuff that you go on. They have lectins, they have phytates, which can be modified by how you cook them. But, but I think most time it's okay to eat beans as part of your diet. And a lot of longevity. Blue zones eat a lot of beans, and they're fine, like minestrone soup, which they eat in Sardinia. What about sugar? Well, sugar is pretty much the devil. If you want to live a long time, not to say do I never eat sugar? No, I eat sugar, I promise you, but I make sure I exercise plenty. I eat it in a way that minimizes any spike in blood sugar by eating it sort of with food that's got fat and protein and fiber. But be careful. If you are insulin resistant at all, if your insulin level is over five and you can check that with your doctor, you can go to functionhealth.com, it's a company I co-founded to look at lab testing. You can actually measure your insulin level, but it's over five, I'd be very careful with eating too much Sargento sugar in your diet. I mean, below the neck, your body can't tell the difference between a bowl of cereal of corn flakes and a, you know, bowl of sugar. So think of. Think of pretty much anything that turns to sugar in the same way. Be careful of liquid sugar calories. They're everywhere. Whether sodas or caffeinated teas, teas that are sweet teas, coffee with all kinds of junk in it. I mean, it's everywhere. Fruit juice is terrible. Don't drink fruit juice. what about oils? Well, I would encourage people to eliminate most processed oils. I think there's some controversy about this, but, you know, if you want to use a little sesame oil or macadamia, walnut oils are fine. Avocado oil is great for cooking, but stay away from canola, safflower, sunflower, grapeseed, corn oil, soybean oil. We've not eaten these for most of our evolutionary history, and we should be eating more of our traditional fats, particularly whole food fats, which we talked about. What about dairy? Well, I would say most conventional dairy we should not be eating goat and sheep are tend to be better. There's A2 casein, which is a different form of casein in the, in the sheep and goat that doesn't cause much inflammation or issues. So you want to, you know, if you're going to do that, most people tolerate that better, like goat yogurt, sheep yogurt, goat cheese, sheep cheese. If you want to eat dairy, a lot of people don't do well on dairy. I encourage you often to do an elimination to see how they feel, but it can cause congest congestion, sinus issues, asthma. digestive issues, acne, I mean a lot of stuff. So make sure you're aware of what you're doing. And also all the nut milks and all that stuff. Be careful because those can have a lot of sugar in them. So lastly, let's talk about what we should not eat, right? We shouldn't eat stuff that's not food, right? Packaged food, processed food, all these color size shapes of chemically extruded, colorful, food like substances, just, you know, don't eat them. Whether it's Twizzlers or Oreo cookies, They don't grow on trees. Basic rule is if God didn't make it, don't eat it. If man made it, probably not a good idea to eat it, right? So I talked about this a lot, but get away from foods with pesticides, herbicides, antibiotics, hormones, processed ingredients, chemicals, added dyes, artificial sweeteners. They're just not good for us and there's no reason to eat them. And that's really the basic foundational principles of nutrition. I encourage you to read my book, the Pegan Diet for more. the Young Forever book is really where I go into how these things affect longevity, particularly what phytochemicals. And we talk about a lot of them like physeter in strawberries or epigallocatechin gallate in green tea or curcumin and turmeric or urolithin A that comes from pomegranate or, or, or various things like luteolin and quercetin that come from Himalayan, Tartary buckwheat. There's all sorts of science about how these phytochemicals interact with our longevity pathways. and I include all that in my book, Young Forever. So I hope you can get a copy, go to youngforeverbook.com, there's all sorts of bonuses to learn about it. There's lots more you need to do that I have in the book, whether it's exercise, sleep, stress reduction, but make sure you understand that food is medicine is the biggest driver. And we didn't even talk about timing of eating, we didn't talk about a lot of things, protein as much as I want to, but it's all in the book. Check it out. Your fork is the most powerful tool you have to change your health and your life. Go to youngforeverbook.com, order a copy now, tell all your friends about it. It's my actually, I think, most important book I've ever written, and I hope you enjoy it too. That's it for today's Health Bite. And I hope you like this episode of the Doctor's Pharmacy. Be sure to share it with your friends and family on social media. Leave a comment, how have you used food to upgrade your health and reverse biological aging? And please subscribe wherever you get your podcast. And we'll see you next week on the Doctor's Pharmacy. Hey, everybody, it's Dr. Hyman. Thanks for tuning into the Doctor's Pharmacy. I hope you're loving this podcast. 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