Hello everybody.

Recently I've been looking into CR. What do you think of calorie restriction?

The health benefits seem pretty impressive over the long-term. Since it seems to be the only currently viable means of extending longevity, I was wondering if anybody around here has adopted a calorie restricted diet. Do you find that it compliments your views on technology and the future? What kinds of variations have you tried, and what challenges or experiences have you run across?

On the other hand, if you're not interested in it, why not?
 

I know what you mean ideal.

To be honest, the longevity benifits of CR are less persuasive to me than the other health benefits. Living to a hundred would be great, but not suffering from cancer, strokes or heart disease as I get older seems to be the real reward for all that (hypothetical) self-control.

I'm on something of a "mild" CR regimen -- I don't weigh and measure everything I eat, but I do have a policy of avoiding foods with zero nutritional value.  And I'm not denying myself anything by adhering to the diet I like: my favorite foods ARE things like leafy greens, broccoli, legumes, nuts, seeds, lean proteins (like eggwhites), and some fruits.  I do like chocolate but I only eat the dark stuff, and not in quantities sufficient to make the saturated fat content significant.  I drink mostly water and tea.  My daily caloric intake is probably between 950 - 1500 calories per day, and I'm 100 lbs and 5'3".  I never feel starved and my last blood test was "excellent" in all areas.  I don't think CR is any sort of trouble unless you honestly cannot live happily without bacon cheeseburgers and bags of chips; there are a lot of tasty, high-nutrient foods out there.  American grocery stores and restaurants don't tend to make this obvious, though. 

 One thing I was just thinking today (after having had a successful afternoon at work after consuming a lunch of scrambled eggwhites, spinach, tomato, and a sprinkling of chopped olives, served with a spoonful of plain nonfat yogurt and drizzled with a teaspoon of flax oil) was that a lot of people who think they're clinically depressed are probably just suffering from "crappy diet malaise".  If you eat a lot of processed foods, simple sugars, and bleached carbohydrates, you're going to feel sluggish and foggy-headed and want to nap after lunch every day, and your skin will look worse, and your brain won't be as quick as you'd like it to be.  A CR-like diet -- not even necessarily counting calories, but watching your nutritional intake and making sure to avoid nutritionally vacant foods (most of the time; I know an ice-cream sundae once in a while won't kill me), is likely to lead to benefits you might not have initially anticipated.
 

Nydra:

One thing I was just thinking today (after having had a successful afternoon at work after consuming a lunch of scrambled eggwhites, spinach, tomato, and a sprinkling of chopped olives, served with a spoonful of plain nonfat yogurt and drizzled with a teaspoon of flax oil) was that a lot of people who think they're clinically depressed are probably just suffering from "crappy diet malaise".

That meal makes my inner child throw it's plate across the room and run in terror. 

I just felt a need to point that out. 

I think eating right is something that should be done gradually. Everybody likes foods that are healthy, some just more than others.  After learning more about nutrition, thanks in part to being active on transhumanist websites, I have started eating healthy myself. Ray Kurzweil compiled something called the Short Guide to a Long Life which is a nice compilation of many tips for healthy eating. Much of it is just not practical though, and it doesn't tell you how to best transition to the diet it suggests.

I am not doing calorie restriction, but I think my diet is substantially better than that of the average person.

The first thing that should be done is to start taking multivitamins, it is cheap and easy, the cheapest health insurance you can buy.  Then, transition to drinking filtered water and green tea. I would recommend trying to drink water during meals. Most soda fountains in addition to serving soft drinks also allow you to fill up with cold filtered water. This can even save you money because most places don't charge for water. Then if that works out, try drinking water outside of mealtimes. For the sake of variety, 100% fruit juices are good in moderation, since water all the time is not so great.

Then, switching to whole wheat bread is a simple thing to do with negligible differences in taste. Of course, cutting down on fried food and unhealthy desserts would be the next step. Replace sugar with stevia, or some other replacement sweetener. (I haven't heard any strong arguments for why Saccharin and Aspartame are bad for you. I am sure both in moderation are significantly better than sugar.)

Most seafood is often very healthy, so for those who like seafood, find out which seafood has low mercury and high Omega 3 content, and eat more of it. The number one recommendation in the Short Guide is salmon. Just find out which healthy foods you enjoy, and make it a point to eat more of those.  Also, it is not necessary to totally deny yourself a treat with no nutritional value every once in awhile. From what I hear, the diets that work the best are those that allow for an occassional deviation.

This is the stage I am at right now.  I still eat most foods that I enjoy, and I would have to agree with Nydra about the diet-mood connection. I have been in the most wonderful mood ever since starting my new diet.  I will often walk around just thinking about how great everything is and how happy I feel.  It is like being in love, but without any of the drawbacks. 

Of course eating right is only half of the battle. Being more active is crucial. Even just walking at a good pace for awhile every so often can do wonders for those who aren't active. Exercising should be embarked on much the same way as I described the transition to a healthy diet. If walking works out for you, try running, try push ups, try sit ups... you get the idea.

ideal:

That meal makes my inner child throw it's plate across the room and run in terror. 

I just felt a need to point that out. 

 Heh..I got a similar reaction from my boyfriend.  I guess I'm just lucky (genetically, maybe?) to find that sort of meal incredibly delicious.  I would have liked it as a kid, too; I was a mutant who couldn't stand pork chops, steak, or macaroni and cheese. :)  It delights me to no end that my innate food predilections lead me toward things that are really good for you.
 

AggressiveProgressive:  I definitely second the "water during meals" thing...soda and even juice (and of course, beer) are huge sources of calories that don't feel like calories when they're going in.  While some vegetable and unsweetened fruit juices are probably fine and good on occasion, people really ought to be drinking a lot more plain, pure water.  This will produce necessary hydration without loading down the body with extra stuff to process.  I know people who dropped 20 lbs easily just by giving up soda and switching to water.  Tea is also a great soda alternative when you want flavor; there are a ton of flavors and types (both regular and herbal) available these days, and it's easy to just make a big pitcher of it and drink it iced or hot, whichever you please.

White bread is probably one of the worst foods ever invented; oddly enough, its origins go back to times when the "whiter" the appearance of the bread, the more supposedly high-class it was.  The grainy, keep-you-regular wheaty bread was considered "peasant food"...come to think of it, royalty seems to be a hotbed of unhealthiness, what with all the bad but expensive food and rampant inbreeding.

Exercise is one area in which I definitely fall into the "needs improvement" category, though: maybe I need a set of bicycle pedals mounted under my computer desk!
 

Nydra:

I'm on something of a "mild" CR regimen -- I don't weigh and measure everything I eat, but I do have a policy of avoiding foods with zero nutritional value.

I'd say that the health benefits you're experiencing are as a result of this, rather than your low caloric intake. Almost everyone stands to benefit from learning to eat better food-- in whatever quantity suits them. 

 Aside from longevity, I think this is the basis of all health benefits of CR; any such regimen forces you to consider your foods carefully and seek out better quality nutrition. The problem is, the longevity benefits of CR (and the cancer resistance) derive from artificially slowing your metabolism-- so that you simply don't damage yourself as fast on the cellular level.

 Problem is, your metabolism and your activity level relate directly to things that I consider more important: strength, vitality, and health... which, to a large degree, form the foundations of mental power. I think the health benefits of the carefully-selected foods offset the limitations imposed by a calorie-restricted-- and thus low-energy-- diet, which means people raised on Twinkees and McDonald's will still benefit from it... but they'd benefit more from eating more high-quality food.

Nydra:

My daily caloric intake is probably between 950 - 1500 calories per day, and I'm 100 lbs and 5'3". I never feel starved and my last blood test was "excellent" in all areas.

At 100 pounds, that's not a restricted diet at all-- you're floating between 9.5 and 15 calories per pound of body weight, which ranges from a healthy weight-loss diet to slightly more than a proper body-building diet.

I'm five-foot-eight and weigh 250 pounds. (My body fat is in the mid-twenties; I need to work on that.) Proportionally, I would need to eat between 2375 and 3750 calories a day... which is practically the opposite of a calorie restricted diet. (And yeah... with as much as I eat, I was somewhat surprised to learn that the reason I'm not adding muscle mass is that I'm simply not eating enough. I'm not worried about fat.) 

Nydra:

If you eat a lot of processed foods, simple sugars, and bleached carbohydrates, you're going to feel sluggish and foggy-headed and want to nap after lunch every day, and your skin will look worse, and your brain won't be as quick as you'd like it to be.

Absolutely. I work at a fast food restaurant, and out of logistic and financial necessity take most of my meals there. I have to think pretty carefully about my nutritional intake in order to stay healthy. (And I should stop deep-frying things...)

 On the other hand, I'm healthier than a lot of my co-workers precisely because I think about what I'm eating, even if it isn't from an ideal source.

AggressiveProgressive:

For the sake of variety, 100% fruit juices are good in moderation, since water all the time is not so great.

 Most soda fountains also have some kind of lemonade in them. A small quantity can make large quantities of water far more palatable-- this is what I do at work.
 

AggressiveProgressive:

From what I hear, the diets that work the best are those that allow for an occassional deviation.

For a long while, I was seriously considering switching to a diet of dry primate feed; the plan was to consume a measured portion of monkey chow at regular intervals, with a measured portion of orange juice, and then eat whatever else I wanted for one meal a week.

 Unfortunately, when I researched it, I found out that a good daily portion of monkey chow for a man my size would have had something around eight thousand calories.
 

AggressiveProgressive:

Exercising should be embarked on much the same way as I described the transition to a healthy diet. If walking works out for you, try running, try push ups, try sit ups... you get the idea.

Social exercise is generally better-- even for the more socially averse. It generally gives you a reason to engage in further activity when you're tired, so that you're not relying on willpower alone.  

Like Nydra, I follow a mild CR diet. My philosophy is "Fuel in. Fuel out." While at work between meals I eat nuts and fruit (and drink two cups of coffee per day) and drink water. At lunch, if I don't eat at a restaurant, I bring or buy something small like a salad or sandwich without dressing/condiments and V8 juice.

Evenings are more challenging because I live with extended family and need to feed my son stuff he'll eat.

I steer clear of alcohol and pop.

 
I also work out twice per week and do yoga when I can.

Current weight is only 3 lbs. higher than when I was 18 (14 years ago) and I am slim and my skin and hair look quite good for my age, though you wouldn't guess me to be much younger than I am.

 
btw, my grandmother just turned 80 and could pass for many years younger (60s). She has long practiced low calorie eating and has her health, mind and appearance to show for it.


 

I do eat healthily--lots of raw fruits and veg, the mediterrean diet--and I do lots of daily aerobic exercise but, I'm still not hardcore enough to do caloric restriction.

I guess I'm still a little skeptical. It may work in round worms, fruit flies and mice--and that is very compelling evidence--but that's not a certainty that it will work in humans.  Humans sometimes have these perverse exceptions to their biochemistry that require us to be careful with results in animal models.

I guess I'm lazy, confident and spoiled enough to take the risk and let other break trail for me.

I guess the other thing is that CR requires me to think too much about my input. Food is something I'd rather not waste CPU time on. Just eat it and go. Don't make me think. I'd like it if someone would just write up a simple chart, broken down by days and meals, with what is allowed and good and what should be avoided. If these charts were on the Web instead of some lame book, I'd be even happier to try it.

Ideally this chart would be cycle through months as well so I don't get bored eating the same nutritious meals day in and day out. Don't make me think.