#24 Dr. Valter Longo - The BIG 2025 interview

There were two reasons why Dr. Valter Longo was featured so prominently in my longevity book Evigt Ung (2022).

First, if you had to name a single scientific thread running through the history of longevity research, calorie restriction is hard to beat. And few have done more to modernize and translate that insight into real-world practice than Longo.

Second, I hold Valter Longo in the highest regard. I've tried his Fasting-Mimicking Diet (FMD), I’ve followed his work on The Longevity Diet, and I find his scientific contributions both rigorous and unusually translational. He doesn’t just publish papers - he builds systems, tests interventions in clinical trials, and tries to implement science into healthcare.

In this conversation, we cover the science, history, and application of fasting, nutrition, and longevity - including new work on cancer, metabolism, and organ regeneration. We also discuss the philosophical and political obstacles that stand in the way of real change.

What you'll learn in this episode:

✅ The story of Longo’s early music career - and why he left it to study aging.

✅ How calorie restriction shaped modern longevity science.

✅ Why Biosphere 2 and Roy Walford's work was both inspiring and cautionary.

✅ The origins and mechanisms of the Fasting-Mimicking Diet.

✅ What Longo learned about autophagy, stem cells, and organ regeneration.

✅ Why protein intake before and after age 65 should be treated differently.

✅ What the media and doctors get wrong about obesity, food, and metabolism.

✅ The dangers of high-protein and ketogenic diets.

✅ Why Longo is deeply skeptical of TRT, growth hormone, and biohacking shortcuts.

✅ How fasting can enhance cancer treatment - and why Longo wrote his new book Fasting Cancer.

✅ Why we need a new kind of “digital school” for lifestyle medicine.

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--CHAPTERS--

00:00 Introduction to Dr. Valter Longo

02:44 From Music to Aging Biology

06:40 The Supposed Longevity Zones of Italy

09:04 Personal Experiences Shaping Research

12:04 The Path to Aging Biology

13:15 Calorie Restriction and Roy Walford

26:25 Transitioning to Fasting Mimicking Diet Research

34:56 The Eureka Moment

39:51 The Rationale For the 5-Day FMD

52:54 The Un-conspired Conspiracy

01:01:18 Conflicts of Interest

01:04:52 Protein Intake: Balancing Muscle Health and Longevity

01:14:30 Autophagy: The Body's Self-Repair Mechanism

01:21:12 The Power of Genetic Variants in Longevity

01:27:18 The Debate on Growth Hormone and Aging

01:36:18 Insights from Laron Syndrome and Longevity

01:40:10 Fasting Mimicking Diet: A Path to Health

01:46:06 Valter's New Book, Fasting Cancer

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📕 Check out Patrick's book: https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262543163/the-case-against-death/

📗 Check out Peter's book (only available in Swedish): https://www.adlibris.com/sv/bok/evigt-ung-min-och-manniskans-drom-om-ododligheten-9789179652524

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Show notes for this episode will be available soon after this airs. Sign up for the LEVITY newsletter to get them straight to your inbox: reachlevity.com/subscribe

LEVITY is co-hosted by Patrick Linden, philosopher and author, and Peter Ottsjö, journalist and author.

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