In 1986, at the age of 42, my mother died of cancer. On the next day I started running and have run almost every day for the last 33 years. The reason I run is the hope that it will save me from my mother’s fate at such a young age. In my mid-forties I started wondering what else I can do to maximise my chances of living another 50 healthy years.

And then I stumbled across 3 excellent books, the first being The Longevity Diet by Dr Valter Longo which describes how to eat to maximise our healthy lifespan. His research is based on five pillars:

1. Basic research – that is doing tests on yeast and mice
2. Epidemiology – the study of the distribution of health and disease conditions in defined populations
3. Clinical studies –the testing of the hypotheses from basic research and epidemiology in controlled trials on randomised populations
4. Centenarian studies – the study of how people live in areas that have the largest populations of people over hundred years old
5. Studies of complex systems. These are models to understand the complex interactions between food, cellular damage and aging. For example, sugars lead to disease but are also a vital nutrient for our bodies. Therefore, sugar is not the problem but intake of excessive sugar in combination with certain proteins and fats contribute to diseases by activating aging related genes, creating insulin resistance and triggering excess glucose in the bloodstream! Our bodies have an innate ability to regenerate themselves at the cellular and organ levels. But modern diets keep these mechanisms permanently switched off. Leaving us prematurely vulnerable to disease and degeneration beginning in our 30s and 40s. According to Dr Longo, our diets should be free of animal proteins except fish.

The next book was The Mindspan Diet by Dr Preston Estep, a Harvard PHD in Neuroscience. The Mindspan Diet explains what to eat to avoid neuro degenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s as we age. He suggests that excess iron is the primary cause.

After world war two there was a shortage of foods rich in iron and this resulted in bread, cereal and other foods being fortified with iron. Even today iron-enriched foods are advertised as if the extra iron is a health benefit! The recommended iron intake is 18 mg/day, but according to Dr Estep we should only be consuming this amount of iron in the first half of our lives during our reproductive years. After age 45 he suggests that 3 mg of iron per day is plenty, and excesses can build up in our brains leading to neuro degeneration.

Both these books claim that the number one thing you can eat to reduce your healthy lifespan is red meat.

Finally I learnt a lot from the Finding Ultra book by Rich Roll. Rich Roll is in his early fifties and in Finding Ultra he describes his journey from being an Ivy league swimmer to becoming an alcoholic and obese before transforming his life to become an ultra-athlete on a plant-powered diet about 12 years ago!

Most fascinating is his Epic 5 feat. An attempt to complete 5 full triathlons in 5 days, each on a different Hawaiian island. Arriving late at night on some islands Rich did not have time to prepare his regular plant-based foods. He was forced to eat what he refers to as vegetarian junk food – the vegetarian options typically offered by Chinese restaurants. Rich describes the stiffness and muscle pain he experienced on the days following vegetarian junk food. Amazingly, during the fifth triathlon after having had time to consume his usual plant-based foods the night before Rich describes how he was able to perform with no muscle pain whatsoever and he felt as if it was day one!

So, since January 2018, I’ve been following a pescatarian diet which is basically vegan plus fish. I’ve experienced new energy levels, lost my afternoon slumps and experience no muscle stiffness even if I run 7-days a week!

Rich Roll states with full confidence that, “An alkaline plant-based wholefood diet is the most rapid recovery tool available to any athlete and a crucial part of his success.”

I personally experienced proof of this on a recent business trip. I was in Leeds for two nights and on the first night I ate noodles, vegetables and fish. At 6am the next morning, I ran 8-kilometres in 32 minutes and throughout the first all-day workshop I felt full of energy with no muscle pain whatsoever!

That evening there was a team building dinner at a Brazilian steakhouse! I did not want to be awkward and not eat meat, so like everyone else I ate a fair amount of steak. The next morning, I ran the same 8-k run and around 10 o’clock my muscles started stiffening. By the time I got to the airport that evening, I was limping around like and old man!

This convinced me that I have found what appears to be the best diet for me. That is mostly plant based, organic wherever possible along with the occasional piece of fish. The diet that Dr Longo calls The Longevity Diet.