Calorie restriction for longevity questions

[Doug_]

Edit: Never posting in The Lounge again.

[colonyofcells]

My impression is that calorie restriction people are not engaging in sports.

[Doug_]

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[Chikiwing]

I don't think it is ever best to eat an insufficient amount of calories. If you do that you're not going to have the energy to do your exercises that you should be doing. You're not going to have any muscle. I'd guess doing such a thing would put you at a high risk to end up "skinny fat" and I don't think that's very healthy or attractive.

[Doug_]

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[JuicerJohn]

Ewww!

I don't want to have to stress about the calories in every mouthful of food so I can make sure that I get only 60% of the calories.

I want to consume a combination of fruits, vegetables, grains, legumes and other starches,along with occasional nuts and/or seeds, prepared in a way that is pleasing to the taste-bud as well as the eye, and eat until I am satisfied. Eating should be a peaceful, relaxing activity, not one filled with stress.

I want to eat with my wife, not with my cup-measure and scale that I have allowed to rule over my diet.

Just another opinion, it's right for me, but maybe not for you.

[Doug_]

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[Chikiwing]

You know about calorie restriction benefits right? Mice fed 20% of what they would normally eat lived 20% longer and were very healthy. 40% restriction lived 40% longer. These weren't skinny fat mice. Only beyond 40% reduction were the calories insifficient. 40% restriction and less was sustainable.

All other animals tested show similar patterns, including humans, which of course is in early stages.

I've heard of this, but have never looked at any of the studies that make this claim. I have read Dr. Roy Walford's Wiki page and he was a big proponent of increasing longevity through caloric restriction. There seems to be some debate as to whether his caloric restricted diet helped or hurt the cause. He died at 79 years old.

I do know the average life expectancy in the United States is 78 years old. According to the theory, people practicing a 40% caloric restriction should live to an average of 109 years old. Well, where are these people? Instinct tells me you could get yourself into trouble cutting calories so low over the long term.

Besides, I think it's better to keep a normal calorie diet with exercise and look like this,


rather than practice a calorie restricted diet that doesn't provide enough energy to exercise, keep muscle, and look like this,

[JuicerJohn]

@ Doug_

[Doug_]

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[dailycarbs]

CR is not a fact chiseled in stone but like any science, an ongoing study. More is discovered every day and it's tested. And so it goes. The latest thinking is that macronutrient ratios and food quality play role as well as fasting. Waiting for human studies on the subject before we decide is not for practical for our generation because human studies take so long. We'll be dead by then. But there is at least one such study:
https://calerie.duke.edu/

In any case, basing the pros and cons on the outcome of one man who had ALS seems foolish. Roy Walford was a brilliant man and a pioneer of the modern CR movement and he deserves our thanks respect. But we can't learn very much by his example alone.

The CR society forum might be a good place to start if you want to learn more or ask questions.
https://www.crsociety.org/forum/5-cr-practice/

Dr. Luigi Fontana is a researcher you may want to google and learn as much as you can about.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luigi_F ... ontologist)

He's been a guest speaker at ASW.
https://goo.gl/tZd8g5

The important takeaway for us here is that CR principles are very much in line with a whole plant based diet so it will be easy to dip a toe in the water for anyone interested. I doubt many (or any) people are going to restrict calories by 40% but I imagine just by going from sad to McDougall (less calorically dense foods) 20-25% restriction is probably feasible for the sad eater. I base this on my own weight loss taken as a percent of body weight. Add some intermittent fasting and you're likely doing a lot for your health and longevity. It's quite feasible that long lived people we admire here got benefits from CR and fasting as well as plant based diets.

[Chikiwing]

I've heard of this, but have never looked at any of the studies that make this claim.

This is clear.

There seems to be some debate as to whether his caloric restricted diet helped or hurt the cause. He died at 79 years old.

He died of ALS. For this reason, CR is not recommended for those with ALS.

I prefer to look at actual studies, not discredit a large body of science based on a single person in a unique situation, even if that person is a leader in the research.

Also, those photos are entirely unnecessary. We all know what muscles, pubic hair, and a lack of either look like. Please remove them.

Anyway, I'm done here. I'll just go by John's/Jeff's recommendations for what is most important.

I think you're being too sensitive.

I looked at the Wiki page on caloric restriction and longevity. From what it says, the evidence is very much still out on its claim and as I suspected, a person can run into health problems with it.

As far as the photos, I think they drive my point home. There is nothing in them you won't see on a public beach and I will not remove them. Maybe the moderator will but I won't. It's 2016, not 1940. Stop being a snowflake.

[JuicerJohn]

Here is something interesting:

http://www.foodnavigator.com/Science/Di ... ging-clues

[figlover]

As far as the photos, I think they drive my point home. There is nothing in them you won't see on a public beach and I will not remove them. Maybe the moderator will but I won't. It's 2016, not 1940. Stop being a snowflake.

Tell me which beach pic#6 is on cause I want to steer clear of that one.

[Chikiwing]

As far as the photos, I think they drive my point home. There is nothing in them you won't see on a public beach and I will not remove them. Maybe the moderator will but I won't. It's 2016, not 1940. Stop being a snowflake.

Tell me which beach pic#6 is on cause I want to steer clear of that one.

Ipanema.