• Longevity expert Valter Longo developed the longevity diet, which is essentially “vegan plus fish.”
• Here, he offers tips on putting together a longevity-boosting breakfast.
• He recommends including lots of food groups and getting creative with ingredients.

An expert in longevity told Insider his three tips for making healthy, enjoyable breakfasts with anti-aging benefits.

Valter Longo is a professor in gerontology and director of the USC Longevity Institute who developed the longevity diet — a diet that he says is essentially “vegan plus fish.” The longevity diet is rich in legumes, whole grains, nuts, and seeds, and relatively low in protein. The diet’s principles are based on Longo’s own research on populations around the world that live especially long lives.

It also includes periods of fasting, and encourages as much walking as possible to mimic the habits of centenarians living traditionally active lifestyles.

Here are Longo’s tips for making nutritious breakfasts to help improve longevity.

Eat a breakfast that contains multiple food groups

First of all, “you have to have breakfast,” Longo said.

A healthy breakfast on the longevity diet might contain whole grains, nuts, and fruit.

Longo himself likes to have friselle, a whole-grain bread from Italy, with a nut spread containing almond and cocoa, as well as an apple.

Almond butter is one of the healthiest nut butters as long as it doesn’t contain added sugar, dietitian Allison Childress previously told Insider, because it contains vitamins and minerals such as vitamin E, magnesium, and calcium.

Make sure you eat things you enjoy

You shouldn’t put pressure on yourself to eat things that you won’t enjoy just because they are good for you; Longo said that whatever you eat should “be a version of what you like based on the general rules” of the longevity diet, not necessarily what he would eat.

For example, Longo’s fig, nut, and cornmeal “cookies,” or baked oats with fruit and nuts, could be good options.

Dietitian Danielle Smith previously told Insider that there’s no point trying to force yourself to eat something if it doesn’t make you feel good or you just don’t like it, as this will make it harder to maintain the switch to a healthy diet over time. It’s much better to “focus on other nutrient dense foods” that you do like, she said.

Don’t be afraid of making changes to get more nutrients in your breakfast

In the same vein, Longo makes changes to his breakfasts to get more nutrients in without sacrificing taste.

He makes his morning cup of tea with two tea bags: one green tea bag and one black. This is because “the green doesn’t taste as good as the black,” he said, but he can still reap the nutritional benefits of the green tea.

Green tea has been linked to better brain function and heart health, lower cholesterol, improved bone strength, and even anti-aging skin effects.

Insider previously reported on healthy alternatives to popular breakfast items that you can easily switch out to make your favorite breakfast more nutritious.