Is this the best diet for living longer?

Is there such a thing as a longevity diet? If there is, it could be a modified Mediterranean diet with periods of fasting, researchers say.

It works, say researchers from the University of Southern California, at least on mice, who lived healthier and longer while eating less protein and more carbohydrates, similar to a low-protein, pescatarian version of the Mediterranean diet.

The diet is mainly made up of vegetables and fish along with small amounts of eggs, meat and dairy foods. The mice that ate this way also had periods of fasting where they ate very little for a few days each month.

Although he advocates a vegetarian version of the Mediterranean diet for longevity, he has noted that the diet’s benefits are more likely to come from what it leaves out rather than what it includes.

“This challenges the dogma that calorie reduction is necessary to lose weight, but it also tells us that the makeup of a diet also matters,” the researchers noted.

Cell Metab, 2026; 38(8): 1579 to 1598.e6