Calorie Restriction Shows Evidence of Slowing Age Related Health Problems

When it comes to weight loss, exercise is more important than cutting calories alone [Exercise Works Better than Cutting Calories When Trying to Lose Weight], but evidence is showing more and more that to stay healthy for the long term, calorie restriction (CR) is the way to go.

A study published in Science (July 2009) shows that calorie restriction in rhesus monkeys leads to a much improved lifespan, and a healthier aging process. The study, at the Wisconsin National Primate Research Center, began in 1989. Eighty percent of the monkeys on a restricted diet have survived compared to just fifty percent of the monkeys on a normal diet. Every monkey in the study ate the same food, but the CR monkeys ate 30% less than normal. [Restricting Calories Thwarts Disease, Aging]

This new study is not groundbreaking, but rather more proof that calorie restriction helps fight the aging process. The first CR studies were performed on rats at Cornell University in 1934 by Mary Crowell and Clive McCay. [Calorie Restriction, Wikipedia]

A human study on calorie restriction by Washington University in St. Louis [Human Study Shows Benefits of Caloric Restriction] shows decreased risk of heart disease and diabetes. It will likely be decades before this study shows any definitive evidence that CR slows the human aging process, but logic and common sense have already shown that it will.

Beginning a restricted calorie diet.

Calorie restriction should not be viewed as a fad diet, but a lifestyle change similar to religion or exercise. To get the best benefits of CR, you'll have to stick with it, fluctuating little from your daily routine. But ease into it slowly, like anything else you'd begin, because trying to cut back your calories all at once may shock your body into thinking it's starving. If, on the other hand, you take a month or two to get your daily intake below what you once considered normal, your body will adjust more easily to the new routine.

A calorie restrictive diet is like a marathon in that CR is not a short sprint but a lifelong trek. If you wanted to train for a marathon you'd begin gradually, running or even walking a few miles a day until your body adjusts to the activity, and slowly increase the intensity until you can run five or six miles a day, then ten or twelve miles a day, learning to run a steady pace that increases in speed as your heart, lungs, and legs grow stronger.

It takes time to get used to less calories but its benefits are long-lasting. So don't be daunted by the challenge and don't get frustrated by occasional setbacks. We can't be perfect all the time, but we can, each new day, try to do better than yesterday.

Get the most bang for your buck:

Calorie restriction is not the only means to a healthy, long-lived life. Balancing a restricted calorie lifestyle with daily exercise and a strong family/social/spiritual support gives you the opportunity to live longer, and to also enjoy those extra years.

Restricting calorie intake while smoking, living in an area with smog or ground pollutants, or getting excessive UV radiation, makes it hard for your body to take advantage of your diet's benefits. Eating poor food choices while trying to restrict your diet will sabotage your chances of success as well.

If you sit down to a meal of greasy fries and a fatty burger, you'll end up eating many more calories before you feel full than if you eat a meal of rice and chicken. Making healthy food choices keeps you from over-eating, and healthy food choices can be your saving grace if you end up eating more than you intended. Limit saturated and trans fats. Trade sugar for protein, fiber, and complex carbohydrates.

How to cut calories:

The brain is your biggest obstacle. Whenever you've gone a few hours without food you begin to grow hungry, and your brain begins wanting food. This means that eating less is a case of mind over matter. You can help to retrain your brain by thinking of your hunger as a sign of growth, not of pain and starvation. When you feel that little hunger-pang in your gut, imagine your body cleansing itself.

Eat meals, don't snack, and eat less at meals-cut yourself off before you feel full instead of eating until you're stuffed. If you eat pizza, eat two slices instead of four. Cook less when you make pasta, make smaller hamburgers, and buy smaller single serving packages when you shop.

Drink lots of water and fluids, but stay away from soda pop, coffee, and alcohol. Tea and juice provide antioxidants, not just empty calories. Chew gum if you must, but choose a gum that doesn't have a lot of sugar and don't replace it with a new stick when the flavor is gone. Drinking fluids and chewing gum help trick your mind into believing your stomach is full.

Possible dangers of calorie restriction:

Calorie restriction may work to improve health because of the reduction in energy used in digestion. When our bodies aren't digesting food we have more energy to use in the healing process, and more energy to burn during regular daily activities. CR enables your body to use some of the energy it once used to digest unnecessary food to instead cleanse itself to remove toxins or to clean clogged arteries. [Fasting]

But there are many side effects of calorie restriction, and you should be aware of them before you attempt to change your lifestyle. Cutting back calories causes the body to grow slower (hair and nails, for instance), and naturally your organs, bones, and muscles will have less tissue and density. Some organs will become smaller as you use them less. Whether these issues are negative is a matter of opinion, but there are things you can do to balance these side effects. Exercising and taking healthy herbal and vitamin supplements, and simply choosing healthy food choices can counteract many of these issues.

Sources:
1. Jessica Fraser, Exercise Works Better than Cutting Calories When Trying to Lose Weight, Waterside Content
2. Bill Hendrick, Restricting Calories Thwarts Disease, Aging, WebMD
3. Calorie Restriction, Wikipedia
4. Emily Singer, Human Study Shows Benefits of Caloric Restriction, Technology Review
5. Fasting, FalconBlanco