Chemical concoctions can smooth over wrinkles and hide those pesky grays, but what about the signs of aging that aren't so easy to fix, such as losing muscle mass? Cutting calories early could help, say University of Florida researchers.

Severely restricting calories leads to a longer life, scientists have proved. New research now has shown for the first time that such a diet also can maintain physical fitness into advanced age, slowing the seemingly inevitable progression to physical disability and loss of independence.

The study showed that the diet reduces the amount of visceral fat, which expresses inflammatory factors that in humans cause chronic disease and a decline in physical performance and vitality across the lifespan.

The stumbling block on this path to remaining forever young is that humans may not adhere to such a severe diet.

Have we finally discovered the Fountain of Youth?

No. But we may be getting a little closer.

Source - Journals of Gerontology
http://news.ufl.edu/2008/09/16/iron-link/

CRON

Calorie restriction with optimum nutrition, also known as CRON, is also called the Longevity Diet. This diet can potentially increase a human being's average lifespan. In effect, participants in this diet maximize nutrients but minimize calorie intake so as to take in the minimum amount of calories healthfully possible, while making sure every bit of food taken in counts nutritionally.

An effective anti aging factor that remains hard to understand

Some proponents say that with calorie restriction, one can avoid most major causes of death. Maximum lifespan (purported to be roughly 120 years at present) has remained steady throughout time despite a marked increase in average lifespan over the last century. Even today, only about one in 10,000 people in developed countries such as the United States are expected to live to be 100 years old.

Much of this can be done by giving rigorous attention to and reducing preventable disease. For example, heart disease is still the number one preventable cause of death in the United States as of 2002, followed by cancer and stroke. The biggest cause of this type of preventable disease is consuming a diet high in unhealthy substances such as white flour or sugar, while avoiding or limiting nutritious foods such as fruits and vegetables. Calorie restriction done in tandem with optimal nutrition may extend lifespan and increase health. It is not entirely understood why calorie restriction works, and studies are still underway.

Who may benefit from it?

Adults who have finished growing will gain the most benefit from nutritionally optimal calorie restriction. Pregnant or nursing women and growing children should not practice caloric restriction, nor should anyone undergoing serious illness. In general, the later in life you start calorie restriction, the less restriction you should do. Calories should slowly be reduced over a two- to three-year period, so as not to shock the body, encourage unhealthy behaviors such as anorexia, or slow metabolism down markedly.

Your calorie needs are determined by your basal metabolic rate, or BMR. Your basal metabolic rate supports normal metabolic activities such as digestion, breathing and maintaining body temperature, as well as physical activity performed. If your lifestyle is very active, in addition, calorie restriction may not be for you. You should always check with your doctor to make sure you are healthy enough to undertake calorie restriction and that your lifestyle can support it.

You want to strike a happy balance in that you eat just enough nutritious food to sustain you so that you don't burn needed fat and muscle tissue, but not so much that you become overweight. Optimal calorie restriction to shoot for is usually approximately 15 to 16%. If you severely limit calories, your health may be damaged even if nutrition is optimal. Even though you may not see deficiency immediately, you can eventually experience osteoporosis, decreased libido, depression, or even death. Because exercise is also an important component of a healthy lifestyle, your calorie needs will change as your activity increases or decreases. In general, moderate exercise will burn about 300 calories an hour, so you will need to increase calorie consumption in tandem with exercise as necessary. In addition, your needs will change as your life stages do.

Things to consider

To help ensure that you are getting the proper nutrition from your anti aging diet, you should use software that analyzes your nutritional intake. Focus on nutrient dense foods that are low in calories for protein and necessary fats, and reduce carbohydrates and saturated fats. This means that your protein intake will be roughly 30% of your diet, with 30% "good" fats, and 40% complex carbohydrates. If you are vegan or vegetarian, you may need supplementation to ensure that you get all the nutrients you need. In addition, you also need the right amount of fiber and probiotic bacteria for best health. When should you eat?

How often you eat is up to you, but one major point of interest in aging studies concerns the glycemic theory. This states that too much glucose in the body leads to what are called "advanced glycation end products" or AGEs. Therefore, some people may graze or increase intake of fiber to slow absorption of carbohydrates, while others change the way they eat so that they get many more calories from fat and fewer calories from carbohydrate. Both of these methods reduce elevated blood glucose levels. In addition, "intermittent fasting," wherein one only eats every other day, has also significantly reduced serum glucose and insulin levels. "Anti aging wise", this type of eating may be beneficial because it does not require calorie restriction on the days one eats, and it also does not cause stunted growth.

It is still not known which of these methods, if any, is better than the other.

Longevity and ideal weight

We know that obesity increases the likelihood of many diseases such as cancer and diabetes, but being very thin also brings its own health problems and may also put the body under great stress during times of stress. Normal BMI, or Body Mass Index, is generally considered to be in the range of 18.5 to 24.9. Many CRON practitioners follow the practice of losing weight gradually until they reach a BMI of about 20. It is still not known what is optimal, and will continue to be studied.

Source - Anti-aging-natural-supplements.com/calorie-restriction.html

New study released today shows that restrictive diets are done primarily in lab controlled sterile situations. The latest one from Stanford University, due to be published on July 13 in PLoS-Biology shows that calorie-restriction leads to significant difficulties in fighting off pathogens. In particular:

from http://www.scientificblogging.com/ne...er_not_so_fast
and published in the Globe and Mail today:

The Schneider lab is seeking physiological explanations for this divergent response. But taken as a whole, the results so far suggest that some skepticism might be in order regarding climbing aboard the caloric-restriction bandwagon, Schneider said. "There's evidence that caloric restriction seems to rev up various individual components of the immune system," he said, "but in the few studies where diet-restricted animals actually have been infected experimentally, they fared poorly."
In their study's conclusions, the authors write, "The work reported here should raise a cautionary flag, as it demonstrates that diet restriction can have complex effects on the realized immune response of a diet-restricted animal." Attempts to extend life span through dietary restriction, or mimicking this process by gulping a pill, could thus be counterproductive, as the value of diminished appetite to an animal's survival may vary with the infecting microbe.
The work was funded by grants from the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, and the Ellison Medical Foundation.

Citation: Ayres JS, Schneider DS (2009) The Role of Anorexia in Resistance and Tolerance to Infections in Drosophila. PLoS Biol 7(7): e1000150. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.1000150

There is a study to prove anything you want it to prove. I personally won't jump on the calorie restiction bandwagon just yet...and since the edited to read website you provide in your second post is a website selling supplements, I have a different "take" on your news...

Kira

I actually provided the first link, based on a google of a keyword search (copyright issues, per board rules). It was the first google result on a search of a key phrase in the post above.

The OP posted the link in the second post.

Just to be clear on where it came from!

Understood. Edited my post to reflect the OPs second link...

Sigh...all sides of the story are important, and IMHO the provision of a website selling supplements to "assist" with the topic at hand just, well, drives me nuts...

Kira

WHY oh WHY does it have to be like this??? HUH???? I want it to be that the more you eat the healthier you get.....SIGH...

Well, the jury is still out. Severe calorie restriction may increase lifespan if you want to live in a bubble for the rest of your life...I don't. And I've stopped worrying about it...but we all have our own path to follow.

Kira

calorie restriction=a very crabby ME!
I think id rather expire a little sooner then live to 150 seriously annoyed!
JMHO>

In life, as in so many things, Quality > Quantity

If I had to eat a severely restricted diet I would kill myself and therefore significantly shorten my lifespan.

I totally agree

Our lives used to be terminated prematurely by childbirth complications, infections, and misadventure.

Today, a large and increasing number of people are succumbing to the effects of calorie poisoning – well before their time. This disease causes elevation of blood-pressure, blood lipids, insulin, and various growth factors, as well as increased metabolic loading. These markers in turn are early indicators for greatly increased risk of heart failure, stroke, arthritis, cancer, and diabetes.

Calorie poisoning – chronically subjecting your body to an excess of calories above the minimum needed for optimal functioning – has existed for as long as people have had ongoing, ready access to surplus food. Ancient royalty is one obvious example.

Today, however, this condition is rampant. Not only is food inexpensive and freely available, it is also specially engineered and promoted to be highly palatable - further stimulating appetite. In addition, social norms have shifted dramatically to make feasting a central aspect of everyday business and personal encounters. Eating out of boredom, anxiety, and depression adds more 'fat to the fire'.

It is a well established fact that weight is determined primarily by the difference between calories consumed and expended – how much you eat, versus what you burn through activity and metabolism. Any surplus increases weight – which in addition to aggravating the various health hazards listed at the beginning – also reduces metabolic efficiency, leading to unnecessary 'wear and tear'. Increased cell activity beyond the minimum required for maintenance, promotes both general cell damage and cancer.

Acute calorie poisoning is found in at least 30 percent of the US population - slashing their healthy life-span almost in half. Most other Americans suffer 'only' from 'milder' forms; their vital years are reduced by 15 to 25 years. Currently only a very small percentage is living with, and benefiting from, an optimal caloric and nutritional balance.

Calorie poisoning is self-inflicted. Personal choices and habits directly determining calorie balance: health awareness, the food you buy, how much and when you eat (and when you stop), what you drink, physical activity, etc.

Article at - optimal.org/peter/Calorie%20Poisoning.htm

Bo

I am starting to wonder what this guy is trying to sell. His posts are sounding like a sales pitch at this point. Meh.

^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^
Agreed

Amen