Luigi Fontana: Longevity’s beautiful symphony

The art and science of aging well is a complex business - a nuanced melding of a finely tuned diet, essential exercise and a healthy mind. For over twenty years, Prof. Luigi Fontana has been studying the lifestyle regimes that could help us live a longer, healthier life. One of the world’s leading experts in the field of human longevity, Dr. Fontana, a physician and professor of medicine and nutrition at the University of Sydney, takes a pragmatic approach to the aging process, railing against aspirations to live an excessively long life. The author of ground-breaking research on fasting and nutrition, he explores the wider issues involved in the aging process in a new book, The Path to Longevity: The Secrets to Living a Long, Happy, Healthy Life. In this LLAMA podcast interview, with Peter Bowes, Prof. Fontana argues that medical systems based on treating sick people should be replaced by a more holistic approach to the human body. He also philosophizes about life's "beautiful journey.” 

In this podcast we cover:

• Working as a longevity scientists in Australia, a country with free healthcare.
• The difference between healthcare and sick care. 
• Like unserviced cars, how unhealthy humans are accidents waiting to happen."
• The scourge of obesity, especially in children and the relationship with chronic disease.  
• Why living longer by itself is of "no importance"  
• Finding happiness and harmony in life.
• The environmental impact of high protein and keto diets.
• Living long thanks to the longevity gene? 
• The craziness of magical recipes to live longer. 
• The metabolic and molecular pathways that regulate the accumulation of damage.  
• Calorie restriction (CR) - the most powerful intervention to slow aging.
• Getting a phone call from CR pioneer Roy Walford. 
• The confusion of ‘intermittent fasting’ describing multiple, disparate regimes.  
• The limits of using mice and other animals as models for humans in longevity research. 
• The role of IGF-1 - Insulin-like growth factor 1.
• The 5:2 diet and what we eat on those non-fasting days. 
• Developing biomarkers that measure our response to interventions focussed on improving health.
• The importance of waist circumference.  
• The ‘religious’ extremes of longevity - vegetarians, vegans, carnivores.  
• Approaching aging like a master conductor or a fine artist. 
• A lack of exercise being the main public health problem of the 21st century. 
• Why sportsmen and women do not live particularly long lives. 
• The role of the matters of mind in longevity and pink noise. 
• The value of sleep in healthy aging and memory conso

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The Live Long and Master Aging (LLAMA) podcast, a HealthSpan Media LLC production, shares ideas but does not offer medical advice. If you have health concerns of any kind, or you are considering adopting a new diet or exercise regime, you should consult your doctor.