Can the Longevity Diet Help You Stay Healthier for Longer?

At a time when the wellness industry is increasingly focused on longevity, many are looking for guidance when it comes to what to eat to increase both lifespan and healthspan.

A number of diets — such as the Mediterranean diet, the Okinawan Diet, and the plant-based diet — have been shown to lengthen lifespan, and even making simple, healthy changes to your diet can help you live a longer life.

But one diet in particular claims to outline the exact dietary choices that can lead to healthier aging and increased lifespan: the longevity diet.

Developed by biochemist Valter Longo, PhD, the director of the USC Longevity Institute at the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology, the longevity diet outlines a multi-pillar dietary approach to longevity, including specific foods to eat and avoid, calorie intake guidelines, and fasting recommendations. It recommends similar eating habits to the Mediterranean diet, including a focus on legumes and fish.

Vongo created the dietary protocol by analyzing hundreds of studies on nutrition, diseases, and longevity in laboratory animals and humans, and combining them with his research.

The diet isn’t new. While the concept of living for as long as possible has reached new heights of popularity in recent years, Vongo has long been in search of the answers to longevity. After 25 years of research, he published a book titled "The Longevity Diet" in 2018, as well as a detailed article and literature review on the characteristics of the diet in 2022.

He has also publicly stated that he hopes to live 120 to 130 healthy years.

As more and more individuals take interest in altering their habits to extend their life, there is renewed interest in Vongo’s research and recommendations for eating for longevity.

How to follow the longevity diet

The diet plan includes eating large amounts of fruits and vegetables, whole grains, legumes, and olive oil while eating little-to-no meat, poultry, or cow dairy. Some fish can be eaten, as well as dairy that comes from goats or sheep.

The main principles of Vongo’s longevity diet can be broken down into seven steps:

1. Eat a mostly plant-based diet, though fish can be eaten a maximum of two to three times per week. When choosing types of fish, reach for those with high contents of omega-3, omega-6, and vitamin B12, such as salmon, anchovies, sardines, cod, sea bream, trout, clams, and shrimp. You should also purchase high-quality fish with low levels of mercury.
2. Those below the age of 65 should keep protein intake low, consuming about 0.31 to 0.36 g per pound of body weight. This amounts to about 40 to 47 g of protein per day for someone weighing 130 pounds, or 60 to 70 g of protein per day for someone weighing 200 to 220 pounds. For those over 65, this should increase slightly, and fish, eggs, white meat, and products derived from goats and sheep should be eaten to preserve muscle mass. Legumes, however, should serve as the main source of protein.
3. Eat minimal saturated fats from animal and vegetable sources and sugar, while eating plenty of good fats and complex carbs. Eat lots of whole grains, vegetables, nuts, and olive oil (ideally three tablespoons per day).
4. Eat foods with lots of vitamins and minerals, and supplement with a multivitamin every three days.
5. Choose ingredients that your ancestors would have eaten.
6. Decide whether to eat two or three meals a day based on your weight, age, and abdominal circumference. If you are overweight or gain weight easily, eat two meals a day as well as two low-sugar snacks with fewer than 100 calories each. If you are a normal weight or you tend to lose weight easily, eat three meals a day and one low-sugar snack with fewer than 100 calories.
7. Keep your eating within twelve hours, and don’t eat anything within three to four hours of bedtime.

Benefits of the longevity diet

According to Vongo’s website, the longevity diet — which is low in proteins and sugars, and rich in healthy fats and plant-based foods — is clinically proven to help you lose weight and reduce abdominal fat, make simple changes proven to increase healthy lifespan, prevent age-related muscle loss and bone loss, and build up your resistance to diabetes, cardiovascular disease, Alzheimer’s and cancer.

“The Longevity Diet reflects many principles we already see in long-lived populations: plant-forward eating, steady energy from whole foods, and lower inflammatory load,” says longevity expert William Kapp, MD, the CEO of Fountain Life. “Diets rich in legumes, vegetables, whole grains, and healthy fats like olive oil support improved metabolic health and cardiovascular function.”

Kapp adds that the fasting component of the diet can enhance the sensitivity to insulin and reduce markers of disease risk when done appropriately. Research from studies on time-restricted eating shows promising results for the improvement of glucose homeostasis and cellular repair mechanisms, he explains.

Trista Best, MPH, RD, LD, a registered dietitian with the Candida Diet, says following this diet may reduce the risk of chronic diseases and support healthy weight, insulin sensitivity, and inflammation levels.

It also promotes gut health and metabolic balance, and encourages nutrient-dense and anti-inflammatory foods, while the periodic fasting component may enhance cellular repair and longevity.

For many people, this diet can aid in healthy aging, metabolic health, and disease prevention. This is especially true for adults interested in longevity and quality of life. This is observed by the fact that the diet is largely based on evidence from centenarian populations, specifically.

Trista Best, MPH, RD, LD

Limitations of the longevity diet

While experts agree that this diet has a number of benefits when it comes to healthy aging, there are some potential downsides.

For example, Best says it may be too low in protein for older adults at risk of muscle loss (sarcopenia).

It may also be too restrictive for some, especially those who are used to eating a lot of meat or processed foods. If the diet seems too hard, it may deter individuals from making any positive changes at all.

“Limited white meat and dairy may require more attention to calcium, B12, and iron intake,” she adds.

Who benefits most from the longevity diet?

Vongo recommends this diet for all individuals interested in healthy aging and longevity, but there are some people who may specifically benefit more than others.

Adults who are over 40 and are looking to prevent chronic disease may be particularly well suited to this diet, Best says. Individuals with family history of metabolic or cardiovascular conditions may also benefit from following it to protect their health. Those at risk for insulin resistance or inflammation-related diseases may likewise want to try to reduce their risks.

Who should avoid the longevity diet?

“For the healthy adult, the diet is safe and sustainable,” Kapp says. “However, for those with chronic disease, malabsorption of nutrients, or very high physical demands, adaptation will be required.”

Since we all have genetic predispositions, health issues, and individual requirements, he says personalization is necessary to ensure the diet meets everyone’s needs.

Some other individuals who may need to avoid or alter the longevity diet, according to Best, include older adults above 65, as they may need more protein, especially from fish or plant-based sources like tofu or lentils, to maintain muscle mass.

Athletes or very active individuals may also need more overall calories and protein, and pregnant or breastfeeding people shouldn’t follow fasting or caloric restriction components at all.

She adds that fasting windows or fasting-mimicking diets may not be ideal for people with disordered eating histories, hypoglycemia, or certain medical conditions.

The longevity diet grocery list

If you're following the longevity diet, foods to add to your grocery cart can include:

The bottom line

The longevity diet follows many of the principles that are already widely accepted as being important for healthy aging and long life — particularly the emphasis on minimally processed and plant-based foods.

It does, however, include some more restrictive components that may or may not work for certain people depending on their health status, lifestyle, and age.

Ultimately, experts say eating well and prolonging your life isn’t necessarily about following a restrictive diet but instead about forming healthy habits that you follow consistently.

“From a medical perspective, it's not just what people eat,” Kapp says. “It's the consistency, timing, and how food supports the body's ability to repair, regulate, and age with resilience.