7 replies to this topic

[mike]

http://www.usatoday....imum-diet_x.htm

[biknut]

it doesn't sound like much fun to me. what happens when you need to put out a lot of energy? i think you would run out of gas pretty fast.

[advancedatheist]

Caloric restriction works in the lab but probably not "in the wild," so to speak, because the scientist can control variables in the experiment that you don't have much control over in real life. Caloric restricted lab animals usually don't have to deal with diets of varying nutritional quality, excessive exposures to ionizing radiation, stress, infectious diseases, pollution, injuries and misadventures.

I also have to wonder how people who perform caloric restriction on themselves fare when they get flu-like illnesses, which often cause some loss of fluids and body fat in people who eat normally. And if it impairs your upper-body strength, I can imagine scenarios where a feeble caloric restricted person dies because he can't lift a certain amount of weight or push with sufficient force.

[Matt]

Generally most people who are on calorie restriction rarely get sick. I have only been doing CR just under a year myself and I usually do have more than 1 cold and the flu every year. So far I've managed to not catch a cold, regardless of my proximity to other people infected. Infact, nearly everyone I've been in contact with for the past 2 months have caught a cold. Thats all family members at home, most students in my class, teachers, friends etc...

I've always been the first person usually to catch a cold within my family or friends, not now... but I still have to get through the winter first

It's thought that people on CR may find it difficult to fight off viruses and have the symptoms linger around for quite a while but I don't think anyone on CR and had the flu died... right?


But I seriously don't like being super skinny... 112.6lb's

[mike]

It is interesting to me that the man who is featured in the article as following a calorie restricted diet expressed hopes that it "wouldn't be bad" to live to 120. It seems to me that there are at least two types of life extensionists. One type wants to live somewhat longer (whether that be a couple of decades or a century longer), and others openly aspire for physical immortality.

[xanadu]

I'm willing to live as long as I can enjoy myself. I'd rather live to be 100 and be active and vigorous than to be in a wheelchair from 85 onward and live to 120. But that's just me. I think caloric restriction is a good thing to a point. I would not give up muscle mass or be at some ridiculous low body fat level like 5%. I think lean is the way to go. I don't believe you need to be a body builder because at some point, the damage you do to your joints outweighs the benefit you get but you do need to be in shape.

[mike]

Xanadu,

While I hope to avoid being in a wheelchair from age 85 to 120, I would be willing to live that way rather than die, in the hope that the years between my turning 85 and turning 120 might bring forth medical advances that would overcome the conditions that put me in the wheelchair.

Mike

[icyT]

Bodybuilding damages the joints now?

I'd attribute that more to things like cardio or sports, actually. If you do weightlifting slowly, why would it harm the joints? The ligaments and tendons increase in strength too.