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What and when we eat affects our immune system. Here
Here’ss how. Aging is Happening
Professor Valter Longo, director of the USC Longevity Institute, is investigating how fasting and diets that Alumni
mimic fasting’s effects can help immune function, including vaccine efficacy and the body’s response to
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infection by viruses such as influenza and the novel coronavirus.
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COVID-19
Professor Valter Longo, director of the USC Longevity Institute, is Demography
investigating how fasting and diets that mimic fasting’s effects Diversity
can help immune function, including vaccine efficacy and the Elder Abuse
body’s response to infection by viruses such as influenza and Environment
eventually COVID-19. Events
Faculty
Fasting and fasting mimicking diets appear to “get rid of
damaged or mis​guided cells and replace them with younger Fasting
and more effective immune cells,” he says, improving many Featured
signs of health in mice. Giving
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The Longo laboratory is demonstrating that cycles of fasting or
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fasting-mimick​ing diets, followed by refeeding a normal diet,
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promote stem cell-dependent rejuvenation of the immune
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system in old mice. Early clinical trials show this process of
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“cleaning up” older white blood cells during short periods of fasting, then spurring the restoration
of the normal levels of the infection-fighting cells when fasting stops, may also happen in Intergenerational
humans, providing potential health benefits. Internships
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Longo says these findings support clinical trials to deter​mine whether they are effective in
Longevity Institute
improv​ing immune system function in elderly humans without causing detrimental side effects
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and increasing vaccination efficacy in older adults. Upcoming trials will test the fasting-mimicking
Nutrition
diet’s effect on flu, and, if funded and when it becomes available, coronavirus vaccination in
Policy
humans, he adds.
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Vaccine efficacy is an especially important issue for older adults due to immunosenescence – the Q&A
gradual decline of immune system function with age – and the higher risk of serious Research
complications from viral infection. On average, the seasonal flu vaccine has a response rate of
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slightly above 50 percent, meaning almost half of older vaccine recipients don’t make enough
Secure Old Age
antibodies to successfully fight the virus.
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Some early findings also indicate that fasting could provide mice with more resistance to viral Student Profile
infection itself. “We want to see if certain dietary interventions that can make a virus less Students
infectious or cause fewer negative effects,” Longo says. Study Abroad

Earlier trials of the fasting-mimicking diet reduced cardiovascular disease risk factors, including Technology
blood pressure and signs of inflammation (measured by C-reactive protein levels), as well as Viewpoints
fasting glucose and reduced levels of IGF-1, a hormone that affects metabolism. It also shrank
waistlines and resulted in weight loss, both in total body fat and trunk fat, but not in muscle mass. Archives
In cancer patients, the fasting-mimicking diet appeared to sensitize cancer cells to chemotherapy Select Month
and lessen treatment side effects.

Trial participants on the special diet were required to eat food products supplied by the nutrition
company L-Nutra during fasting periods of just five days each month. The diet, which was
designed to mimic the results of a water-only fast, allowed for participants to consume between
750 and 1,100 calories per day. The meals for the fast-mimicking diet contained precise proportions
of proteins, fats and carbohydrates.

While many of the results are promising, Longo cautions that any kind of fasting or fasting-
mimicking diet should only be undertaken with a doctor’s guidance in those that have diagnosed
diseases or suspect having a disease. Sheltering in place during the COVID-19 pandemic may
provide an opportunity for individuals to try a fast or fasting-mimicking diet especially those who
are overweight or are gaining weight, but he advises that the most important thing to do in the
face of potential illness is to stay well-nourished in general, especially for the essential workers
who are at the highest risk for exposure.

Longo encourages a balanced pescatarian or Mediterranean diet versus long-term restrictive, low-
calorie dieting. The immune system can get depressed with a poor diet or a diet that is too
restrictive, he says. “This is not the time to push yourself to the limit.”

__

Longo is the founder of and has an ownership interest in L-Nutra; the company’s food products
are used in the human studies of the fasting-mimicking diet. Longo’s interest in L-Nutra was
disclosed and managed per USC’s conflicts-of-interest policies. USC has an ownership interest in
L-Nutra and the potential to receive royalty payments from L-Nutra. USC’s financial interest in
the company has been disclosed and managed under USC’s institutional conflict of interest
policies.

CATEGORY: COVID-19
COVID-19,, FASTING
FASTING,, FEATURED
FEATURED,, LONGEVITY INSTITUTE
INSTITUTE,, RESEARCH

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