5 replies to this topic

[Danail Bulgaria]

Is there a place on internet, or a downloadable book, that reveals a CRON diet day by day, and/or giving instructions on how to be created such a diet. Thanks in regards !

[Michael]

No -- sorry! First, I know of no even half-decent downloadable source on the principles of CR. Second, even in principle, the document you're looking for could not exist. It's important to understand that there is no predefined "CR diet." CR works because of the intersection of substantially lowering Calorie intake while keeping up excellent intake of essential nutrients and how individuals work that out varies wildly. We have folks doing things that look like unusually healthy versions of everything from Atkins to Ornish. Generally speaking, this means you eat more high-nutrient, low-Calorie foods (vegetables, fruits, lean protein (turkey, chicken breast, Quorn, most fish, low-fat soy, eggwhites, fillet mignon, low-fat dairy, etc), and good fats (avocadoes, nuts, olive oil, flax oil, etc)) and fewer lower-nutrient, high-Calorie foods (sugar, margarine, and lard, obviously, but also full-fat dairy and meat, refined flour, regular potatoes and to some extent even whole grains and starchy root vegetables, which are nutritious foods in moderation for a person eating a conventional healthy diet but don't pack enough of a nutritional punch to be the base of a CR pyramid).

You just have to get yourself food scales and measuring cups & spoons, and start crunching numbers, and tweak until you've optimzed teh backpack. As St. Paul said in another context, you have to work out your own CR in fear and trembling.

That said, the best book on CR is the second edition of The Longevity Diet.

Edited by Michael, 15 April 2012 - 02:19 PM.

[Danail Bulgaria]

It sounds me somewhat non scientific there not to be created some sort of standarts and everyone to work out his/her own CR "in fear and trembling".

For example there are long time known values of the calories needed daily for an average person leading different life styles and working different jobs. Once they were distributed in a table form.

I simply hardly believe, that noone have ever calculated restricted calories values for each of the tables, and have not calculated amounths of "good food" needed to have a calories restricted diet lets say for one ot two weeks.

Is there a medical dietologist in the forum? And if there is such a person, may he/she write his/her oppinion about that?

[scottknl]

It sounds me somewhat non scientific there not to be created some sort of standarts and everyone to work out his/her own CR "in fear and trembling".

For example there are long time known values of the calories needed daily for an average person leading different life styles and working different jobs. Once they were distributed in a table form.

I simply hardly believe, that noone have ever calculated restricted calories values for each of the tables, and have not calculated amounths of "good food" needed to have a calories restricted diet lets say for one ot two weeks.

Is there a medical dietologist in the forum? And if there is such a person, may he/she write his/her oppinion about that?

seivtcho, There are some rules that it makes sense to follow. The basic 2 rules for CR are 1) eat a diet that gives all essential vitamins, minerals and essential fatty acids and 2) gradually reduce your calories to about 70 - 80 % of what a lean version of yourself would eat. In order to get rule 1 correct you need to construct a diet of nutrient dense foods that give great nutrition and in order to do that correctly you need to track your diet using computer software like CronOMeter. This is usually a whole bunch of vegetables and fruits and nuts with your favourite source of protein. Amendment a) If you can't get all your nutrients, then supplement only the nutrients you can't get from your food. Amendment b) In order to reduce risk of heart problems and stroke, you should carefully balance your intake of fatty acids to a ratio of 4:1 or less for Omega-6 fatty acids : Omega-3 fatty acids. There are several optional rules that are often followed by CR diet practitioners. Optional 1) reduce your protein intake so that it's about 0.8 g/kg of body weight per day -- reason: too much protein is thought to increase cancer risk. Optional 2) reduce the methionine amino acid intake to a moderate level of 0.7 g per day --reason: high methionine intake has been associated with reduced expression of some of the key epigenetic changes that occur with CR, so moderating your methionine intake allows you to get more benefit from your CR practice. Optional 3) reduce intake of saturated fats to less than 10g per day --reason: saturated fats have been link in some research to heart problems and strokes. Optional 4) reduce intake of carbohydrates. --reason: carbs cause insulin spikes and insulin is considered a pro-aging hormone. Optional 5) If you need to reduce weight, then reduce it slowly at a max of 1 - 2 lbs per week. --reason: Body fat stored toxins and when you lose fat, the toxins are released into your blood stream. Your liver and kidneys can remove some of these, but only about 1 - 2 lbs per week.

By my count there are 3 CRON diets listed in this forum; my own is in a thread called http://www.longecity...-vegetarian-cr/. Any one of them would be a good starting point for you to change your dietary habits and get into the CRON lifestyle. Of course not everyone would want to eat the exact same diet as a sample diet, so this is where the fear and trembling comes into play worrying about whether your diet is good enough or not.
There is one final unwritten rule for CRON: Make any changes slowly over a period of weeks and months. The body, hunger and digestion often takes some time to adjust to dietary changes, so a little at a time is better than lots of change all at once.

Dieticians are notorious for getting diets wrong, For example many of them still suggest low fat diets even though they are very dangerous for the average person.

[Danail Bulgaria]

skottknl, thank You for the answer and for the sample diet. I was startled, that medical dietary specialists make so much mistakes when creating an individual diet. Since this is their main work, thay must be very good at that. What sorts of mistakes do they usually do?

[scottknl]

skottknl, thank You for the answer and for the sample diet. I was startled, that medical dietary specialists make so much mistakes when creating an individual diet. Since this is their main work, thay must be very good at that. What sorts of mistakes do they usually do?

From the articles that I've read from dietitians, typically the diets are too high in carbohydrates and too low in fats. Also the diets often contain too many calories. Organic foods are almost never recommended. On the positive side, they often contain more vegetables than the average person usually eats.

It's a mistake to think that because people do some work every day, that they must be good at it. I've had bad experiences with doctors and dentists.