- Dr. Michael Roizen is 78 years old, but says his “biological age” is 57.6.
- He’s the chief health officer at the Cleveland Clinic and has his own advice for staying healthy.
- Dr. Roizen spoke to Business Insider about his diet principles, which include adhering to the Mediterranean diet.
Healthy aging experts say Reversing biological age The 20-year-old shared his diet principles with Business Insider.
Dr. Michael Roizen, an anesthesiologist and chief health officer at the Cleveland Clinic, is 78 years old. But he told BI that his “biological age” is about 57.6, meaning his body looks decades younger when it comes to risk of death and developing age-related chronic diseases. Definition of Biological Age Or how to measure it.
Roizen applied the same principles he used to stay young to the Cleveland Clinic, creating a wellness center that offers financial incentives to employees. Healthy Lifestyle ChangesRoizen said the program has saved Cleveland Clinic up to $200 million a year in health care costs for its 101,000 employees and patients since 2008. It has informed research efforts on healthy aging.
The diet principles that Roizen follows are:
Follow a Mediterranean diet
of Mediterranean diet It consists of mostly whole foods like fruits, vegetables, legumes, lean proteins, and dairy, and limits red meat, processed foods, and alcohol. It has been named the healthiest diet in the world by U.S. News & World Report for seven consecutive years, and studies have shown it has heart-healthy benefits. Weight lossand Preventing cognitive decline.
Trout and salmon are major sources of animal protein that contains vitamin D and omega-3 fatty acids.
Eat a lot for lunch
Roizen eats her biggest meal at lunch and “very little” at dinner, usually just a salad. She says heavy meals make it hard for her to sleep and “feel a lot worse the next day.”
A 2024 study by researchers at the University of Alagoas in Brazil found that consuming the majority of one’s calories at lunch could help prevent and treat obesity, regardless of the quality of participants’ diet. Eating in this way may be better in line with the body’s natural rhythms, the team suggested.
Restrict calories for five days a month
Follow Roizen too Longevity Diet Created by Valter Longo, a professor of gerontology and director of the University of Southern California’s Longevity Institute, who has been following it for seven years, the diet involves restricting calories for five days a month in order to mimic the effects of fasting.
On the first day of the fast, people cut their calories by 1,100, then by about 700 on days two through five. In a 2024 study conducted by Longo’s team at USC, participants on the fasting-mimicking diet Younger biological age After three months of dieting, people’s life expectancies increased by an average of two and a half years.
“It is not unreasonable to think that doing this twice a year, at least between the ages of 40 and 60, could add three to four years or more to your health lifespan, for people with higher BMIs, blood pressures, blood sugars, etc,” David Clancy, a researcher in the biology of ageing at Lancaster University in the UK, who was not involved in the study, told BI at the time.
But he added that the dietary restrictions are “strict” and may be difficult to follow for working people. “It would be wise to schedule days four and five over the weekend,” he said.
Eat within an 8 hour window
Roizen practices intermittent fasting by eating between 11 a.m. and 7 p.m. each day.
He said the data on the effects of intermittent fasting is Although the data on longevity is much less certain than that on calorie-restricted fasting, he said he likes how he feels.
“By the end of the 16 hours, I feel great, I have a lot more energy, I sleep a lot better and I feel like I have a lot more energy,” he said.
Previously, BI Intermittent fasting It’s not conclusive. One controversial study published earlier this year actually shorten a person’s lifespanand others suggest that it isn’t. good for health.
