Eat Less, Live Longer, New Study Says

nytimes.com:

A long-awaited study of aging in rhesus monkeys suggests, with some reservations, that people could in principle fend off the usual diseases of old age and considerably extend their life span by following a special diet.

Known as caloric restriction, the diet has all the normal healthy ingredients but contains 30 percent fewer calories than usual. Mice kept on such a diet from birth have long been known to live up to 40 percent longer than comparison mice fed normally.

Read the whole story: nytimes.com

Comments

[been2there]

Live long hungry or shorter happier? I'll take short and sweet.

[shthar]

so you can spend more time jogging, bleh.

Live life to its fullest!

[RMankovitz]

It is puzzling that the most critical variable in CRD studies is rarely mentioned. What is the CRD group eating less of? I discuss this at length in my book "The Wellness Project", and have termed it "The Rat Chow Effect."

Early rat CRD studies used rat chow, a Frankenfood for any self-respecting rat. No wonder they lived longer when they were poisoned less with each meal. The questions to ask in this study are all about the foods used, and their history. Were the bananas organic, or did they contain pesticides. Was this even consided or measured?

Chimps naturally eat 10-20% of their diet as animal food. Was that given to them, and if so, what was its history. Without this data, I consider the study outcomes to be sloppy science at best, and possibly a testimony to the dangers of primates (including humans) eating Frankenfoods.

Roy Mankovitz, Director
http://www.MontecitoWellness.com

[SarcasticFringehead]

So Doc, if I start eating Rat Chow, then I'll live 10-20% longer?
The mind boggles!

[Konnie]

why?

[unbozo]

Oh heck yes! Just look at all those Haitians and people in Africa that benefit from eating less.

Oh! and btw I saw a study recently that showed that people that are a little over weight live longer than thin people. Just goes to show, you can find a study to support any argument. YMMV

[tinrobot]

Those people aren't getting proper nutrition because they eat less and they eat poorly.

The calorie restricted diet is less calories, but higher quality food, so every calorie is packed with nutrition.

[cucumber]

How deeply unethical to make monkeys live in barren cages in windowless rooms in research labs for life so we can try to extend our own sorry lives. Vivisection is shameful, no matter what you think you discover from it.

[Norge]

Well said.

[wm1066]

I am beginning to believe that as we age we develop food intolerances, when we eat that food the body has to work hard to deal with it and that causes aging and immune problems. Eating a food that is bad for us isn't noticable right away, it can take days for it to show up, and then it might be a headache or bursitis flareup, any number of symptoms. In dealing with a bad food it might be taking away energy that is fighting another problem.
So, maybe in eating less you are getting less from an offending food.

[outnow]

Your liver has to work harder to detoxify all that animal fat. Inflammation causes arthritis, autoimmune diseases, atherosclerosis, and cancers. Caloric restriction must start early in life and must eliminate 30% of calories. There are other ways to live longer such as eliminating animal fats and products, milk, eggs, meat, fish, cheese when combined with moderate exercise everyday.

Leaky gut syndrome is for real and so are food allergies and intolerances which maty increase, especially when the liver function declines and toxins build up. Too much protein is bad, too.

Good health to you.

[wm1066]

I am a coeliac, I have to have animal protein otherwise I get sick. I can't use wheat, rye or even corn in my diet. Rice is about it for my grain consumption. I can't do that grain combo thing to get protein. And the coeliac desease led to hypoglycemia which further limited my food choices ( any food that is good for a diabetic bothers me) . But I am a B blood type so I can tolerate meat, more than an A or an AB blood type. But thanks for your thoughts.