Researcher
Valter Longo
Last updated Sun May 17 2026 00:00:00 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)
Background
Valter Longo is Edna M. Jones Professor of Gerontology at USC and director of the USC Longevity Institute. He also directs the Longevity and Cancer Program at IFOM in Milan.
Lines of work
- Fasting biology in yeast, mice, and humans — mechanisms by which short fasting cycles trigger autophagy, stem-cell renewal, and stress resistance.
- Fasting-Mimicking Diet (FMD) — a 5-day low-calorie, low-protein protocol that triggers fasting-like cellular responses while permitting some food intake. Commercialised as ProLon.
- Protein and longevity: high animal-protein intake in midlife associated with higher mortality in NHANES; the picture flips in older adults where protein adequacy becomes important.
- Fasting and chemotherapy tolerance — ongoing trials.
Books
The Longevity Diet (2018) outlines his nutritional framework: largely plant-based, low-animal-protein, eating window contracted to ~12 hours, periodic FMD cycles.
Affiliations / disclosures
Co-founder of L-Nutra, the company that makes ProLon. Conflict of interest is acknowledged in his publications.
Related entries
Fasting-mimicking diet, Intermittent fasting, Caloric restriction.
References
- Wei, M. et al. Fasting-mimicking diet and markers/risk factors for aging, diabetes, cancer, and cardiovascular disease. Sci. Transl. Med. 9, eaai8700 (2017).