Why Losing Weight Slowly is Better for Your Long-Term Health

Last weekend I read a fascinating book called The Longevity Diet, by Brian M. Delaney and Lisa Walford. Don't let the word "diet" in the title fool you - this is not a book about losing weight, although the people following the guidelines in the book are almost all thinner than the average American. I learned about the book when I found The Calorie Restriction Society website.

The book is based on years of research done on the aging process, mostly with animals such as mice and other laboratory animals. Dr. Roy L. Walford, one of the authors' father, was on the forefront of this research. Dr. Walford and other scientists in laboratories and universities around the world have proven that it is possible to increase the lifespan of laboratory animals of all species studied - often as much as 60%, by feeding them diets high in nutrition but low in calories.

But the studies have also proven that adult animals who are put on calorie restricted diets too quickly actually die sooner than control animals who eat a "normal" diet. To avoid this problem, the nutritional quality of the animals' diet is increased, and then calories are gradually reduced over a long period of time. When done correctly, the laboratory animals, including primates, live longer - and stay alert and active throughout their longer lives.

Researchers who work with these animals on their calorie restricted diets have come to a pretty obvious conclusion - if it works for every animal studied, then it probably works for humans, too. Many of these scientists have chosen to adopt their own versions of a calorie-restricted diet for themselves.

Since they are well aware of the dangers of moving too quickly to this new regimen, they begin the process by making a long-term commitment to their health.

Once they have committed themselves to this change in their lifestyle, they write down everything they normally eat so they will be able to keep eating almost as many calories while removing all junk food and calorie-dense but nutritionally-empty foods, like sugar, candy and processed grains, from their diet.

Of course, once you stop eating fast food, sugar and white flour, it is almost impossible to maintain the same calorie load that you were on before, so the researchers do begin to slowly lose weight. After they have been on a highly nutritious diet for at least 6 months they begin to reduce the calories in the diet.

These studies, and others, show that increasing the natural nutritional quality of your diet is just as important as eating fewer calories. It won't help to just eat less of what you eat now, and try to make up for the poor nutrition by buying a bottle of vitamins. In fact, several startling research studies have recently been reported that cast doubt on the advisability of taking vitamins to supplement the nutrition in your diet. Many of us have been convinced for years that we can get the vitamins and minerals we need, even if we don't chose to eat those veggies - all we need to do is buy a quality vitamin pill, and remember to take one every day. But read this excerpt from an article posted on the BBC website this February:

"Millions worldwide use antioxidant supplements such as vitamins A and E, and beta-carotene. Looking at dozens of previous studies, Copenhagen University researchers suggested these appeared to raise, not lower, the risk of early death."

Then another article appeared today, concerning the relationship between vitamins and prostate cancer:

"Taking lots of multivitamins may increase the risk of deadly prostate cancer, say US researchers.Their study showed taking multivitamins more than seven times a week was associated with an increased risk of advanced and fatal prostate cancer."

Although taking vitamins may not be as healthy as we once thought, eating lots of veggies and fruits, and eating less sugar, is still a healthy option. When we make a commitment to diet, we should keep all these studies in mind and determine what's really best for our health.

If you want to lose weight and feel better, too, here's a few suggestions:

1. Decide that you'll concentrate on improving the quality of your diet long before you even think about reducing the number of calories you eat. Once you've become accustomed to the great taste of natural foods, and have increased the quantity and variety of veggies and whole grains you eat every day, you'll begin to feel better, and the toxins that have been building up in your extra fat cells will gradually be released and removed from your body. You'll have more energy and vitality, even without losing your extra weight.

2.Once you feel comfortable with your new, healthy diet, you can then gradually reduce the calories and slowly lose the extra weight - but don't make the mistake of thinking of a specific weight as your "end goal, because you may be tempted to go back to an unhealthy way of eating once you've reached that goal. Try to concentrate instead on how much better you think and feel when you're eating a highly nutritious diet. Your new, thinner body will just be a nice bonus that shows the world how much healthier you feel.

This idea of making a long-term commitment to health, instead of weight loss, (and making the transition to lower calories slowly over a long period of time), also removes one of the biggest problems with dieting - the almost inevitable weight gain after the diet is over. If 95% of the people who "diet" regain their weight, and a sudden reduction in calories can actually shorten your lifespan like those laboratory mice, then it just makes sense to go about the whole thing a bit slower.

Use the first six months or so to learn as much as you can about quality nutrition. You might even want to take a course or two on how to cook gourmet veggies so you really enjoy every healthy meal. Start a garden so you always have fresh organic vegetables on hand. Find other people who are also interested in getting healthy by eating better food while eating fewer calories so you have their support. You may even want to join the Calorie Restriction Society and take part in their on-going research.