Benefits of Calorie Restricted Diet

From various Internet sources cited below

A small-scale study in the US has shown that a stringent calorie-restricted diet may produce large reductions in heart disease and diabetes risk . It offers further support to idea that eating a varied balanced diet and staying at a healthy weight by being physically active will help to lower your risk of developing heart disease. . What is a calorie-restricted diet . A calorie-restricted diet is one where a person eats 10-25 percent less calories than an average western person . Because there is the danger that people following such a diet might not get the full range of vitamins and minerals they need individuals following a calorie-restricted diet eat nutrient-dense foods . In addition to a restricted calorie intake the people avoid all processed foods containing trans-fatty acids and refined carbohydrates in the form of desserts snacks and soft drinks. The average american takes in almost twice as much energy as a calorie-restricted dieter .

To date the calorie-restricted diet is scientifically proven to extend life at least in animals. Since 1935 scientists have known that if you put rodents on to a reduced calorie diet it will lengthen their lifespans by an impressive 40 . Research is now strongly suggesting that the same is true for our primate cousins .

Slashing calories Can it really lengthen your life . Snir who is 5 feet 10 inches tall and 170 pounds says he has avoided the gaunt appearance and weakened bones typical of many of his calorie-restricted diet brethren by eating a lot of protein powder and lifting heavy weights . He eats only part of the fish but dives into the side of steamed vegetables more in keeping with the Spartan diet hes followed for two years . The Microsoft software engineer figures that by subsisting on about 2 000 calories a day nearly 30 percent less than recommended for a man as active as he is he will tack an extra 15 years onto his life . Its a brand of dietary providence foreign to the typical tubby American . Study after study in worms flies spiders guppies yeast mice and rats shows slashing calorie intake by about 30 percent lengthens life span by about the same percentage . Not only do critters live longer calorie restriction or CR as its known among rodent-starving scientists also appears to be a panacea for age-related ills . But the diet may cause problems of its own such as weakened bones . Researchers are now looking at the diets possible benefits and risks for people . Now he eats 1 800 calories which leaves the 5-foot-11-inch man a wispy 135 pounds .

CR is the only known dietary measure capable of extending as opposed to . In Weindruch reported that restricting the calorie intake of laboratory mice proportionally increased their lifespan compared to a group of mice with a normal diet . The calorie-restricted mice also maintained youthful appearances and activity levels longer and showed delays in age-related diseases . In the meantime many people have independently adopted the practice of calorie restriction in some form hoping to achieve the expected benefits themselves . The female mice that were given a diet during the majority of their lives maintained higher levels of ER in the pre-optic hypothalamus than their non-calorically restricted counterparts. . The proposes that the diet imposes a low-intensity biological stress on the organism which elicits a defense response that helps protect it against the causes of aging . It was observed that these animals can have a normal dietary intake but have a similarly increased lifespan . This suggests that lifespan is increased for an organism if it can remain lean and if it can avoid any excess accumulation of if this can be done while not diminishing dietary intake as in some minority eating patterns see e.g . or then the starvation diet anticipated as an impossible requirement by earlier researchers is no longer a precondition of increased longevity. . in 2004 showed that practitioners of a CR diet had significantly better cardiovascular health .

Source: http://www.bupa.co.uk/health_information/html/health_news/210404heart.html

Source: http://www.abc.net.au/quantum/s272666.htm

Source: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2001789302_agecalories12m.html

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calorie_restriction