Caloric Restriction With Optimal Nutrition
Links and Information


What is it?

It's not a diet, it's a lifestyle. CRON is the only proven method of life extention. It's proven to reduce disease and boost immunity while extending healthy lifespan. It's recomemded as a safety net for all immortalists to allow life extension technology the time to catch up.


Resources:

1. Most Active Online Discussion/Resource:


http://www.calorierestriction.org/index.htm


2. Peter Voss's CRON Introduction

Here is another "Official Source" weighing in:

CDC Says Intentional Weight Loss Lowers Mortality
Mon Mar 3, 5:03 PM ET

PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - Overweight people can reduce their risk of death by trying to lose weight, regardless of whether they actually succeed in shedding pounds, a U.S. government health study suggested on Monday.

Researchers at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (news - web sites) tracked the cases of 6,391 overweight and obese people who joined the National Health Interview Survey over a nine-year period from 1989 to 1997.

What they found was a 24 percent drop in mortality among people who lost weight intentionally, compared with others who maintained a stable body mass without seeking weight loss. Mortality rates shrank by a steeper 30 percent among those who managed to lose between 2.2 pounds and 19.8 pounds.

Even those who tried to become thinner and failed saw their mortality rates fall 19 percent, leading researchers to wonder whether the attempt to lose weight can be seen as a marker for other healthy behaviors that can lower mortality.

The study, published in the American College of Physicians' Annals of Internal Medicine, provided the clearest evidence yet that intentional weight loss can reduce the risk of death.

While links between obesity and life-threatening diseases such as diabetes, heart disease and cancer are well established, CDC researchers said some studies up to now have suggested that losing weight can lead to higher mortality.

Earlier findings may have been skewed by unintentional weight loss linked to health problems including cancer, heart disease and depression, CDC researchers said.

People in the study who lost weight without trying saw mortality rates shoot up by as much as 77 percent.

The findings also showed a significant drop in mortality for people who reported gaining weight over the nine-year period. Researchers said that occurred among a small number of mostly men and could suggest that weight gain signifies short-term health benefits that disappear over the longer term.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor...ealth_weight_dc

This is a great overview on the state of the union in regards to caloric restriction...

Current State of Calorie Restriction Research



E-mail me for references if you're interested...

This post has been edited by kperrott: Mar 11 2003, 05:09 AM

DNA Repair (Amst) 2003 Mar 1;2(3):295-307 Related Articles, Links

Caloric restriction promotes genomic stability by induction of base excision repair and reversal of its age-related decline.

Cabelof DC, Yanamadala S, Raffoul JJ, Guo Z, Soofi A, Heydari AR.
Department of Nutrition and Food Science, Wayne State University, 3009 Science Hall, 48202, Detroit, MI, USA

Caloric restriction is a potent experimental manipulation that extends mean and maximum life span and delays the onset and progression of tumors in laboratory rodents. While caloric restriction (CR) clearly protects the genome from deleterious damage, the mechanism by which genomic stability is achieved remains unclear. We provide evidence that CR promotes genomic stability by increasing DNA repair capacity, specifically base excision repair (BER). CR completely reverses the age-related decline in BER capacity (P<0.01) in all tissues tested (brain, liver, spleen and testes) providing aged, CR animals with the BER phenotype of young, ad libitum-fed animals. This CR-induced reversal of the aged BER phenotype is accompanied by a reversal in the age-related decline in DNA polymerase beta (beta-pol), a rate-limiting enzyme in the BER pathway. CR significantly reversed the age-related loss of beta-pol protein levels (P<0.01), mRNA levels (P<0.01) and enzyme activity (P<0.01) in all tissues tested. Additionally, in young (4-6-month-old) CR animals a significant up-regulation in BER capacity, beta-pol protein and beta-pol mRNA is observed (P<0.01), demonstrating an early effect of CR that may provide insight in distinguishing the anti-tumor from the anti-aging effects of CR. This up-regulation in BER by caloric restriction in young animals corresponds to increased protection from carcinogen exposure, as mutation frequency is significantly reduced in CR animals exposed to either DMS or 2-nitropropane (2-NP) (P<0.01). Overall the data suggest an important biological consequence of moderate BER up-regulation and provides support for the hormesis theory of caloric restriction.

PMID: 12547392 [PubMed - in process]

This post has been edited by kperrott: Mar 11 2003, 05:27 AM

Science 2003 Jan 24;299(5606):572-4

Extended longevity in mice lacking the insulin receptor in adipose tissue.

Bluher M, Kahn BB, Kahn CR.
Joslin Diabetes Center and Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, One Joslin Place, Boston, MA, 02215 USA.

Caloric restriction has been shown to increase longevity in organisms ranging from yeast to mammals. In some organisms, this has been associated with a decreased fat mass and alterations in insulin/insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) pathways. To further explore these associations with enhanced longevity, we studied mice with a fat-specific insulin receptor knockout (FIRKO). These animals have reduced fat mass and are protected against age-related obesity and its subsequent metabolic abnormalities, although their food intake is normal. Both male and female FIRKO mice were found to have an increase in mean life-span of approximately 134 days (18%), with parallel increases in median and maximum life-spans. Thus, a reduction of fat mass without caloric restriction can be associated with increased longevity in mice, possibly through effects on insulin signaling.

PMID: 12543978 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

This post has been edited by kperrott: Mar 11 2003, 05:28 AM

You guys know there's a friendly get-together type CR conference coming in June, right?

http://www.calorierestriction.org/CR_Confe...erence_2003.htm

Reason
Founder, Longevity Meme
reason@longevitymeme.org
http://www.longevitymeme.org/

looks like this is the link?
http://www.biomarkerinc.com/html/december_2001.htm

Others here: http://www.biomarkerinc.com/html/sci_pub.htm

Thanks Reason.. I've added the CR event to ImmInst's Calendar

The following (yahoo) CRsupportgroup poll - voting closed:

POLL QUESTION: What is the #1 reason that motivated you to try a CRON diet, after you first learned about it?

.....................................................
CHOICES AND RESULTS (by rank):
- Desire to live long, happy and healthy as possible 26 votes, 37.14%
- Interest in extending lifespan, 21 votes, 30.00%
- Science of CR fascinated me, 6 votes, 8.57%
- Needed a healthful diet to control excess weight, 5 votes, 7.14%
- Personal desire to stay attractive and slim, 5 votes, 7.14%
- Fear of an illness/disease that would surely kill me 3 votes, 4.29%
- Disgusted at myself, needed to change, 2 votes, 2.86%
- Desire to please spouse/family/loved one/others, 1 votes, 1.43%
- Other, 1 votes, 1.43%

Total votes: 70

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CRsupportgroup

I have been trying to get into the habit of fasting once a week. Unfortunately, the hunger pains are horrific! Any suggestions? I tried drinking lots of water, but that only quietens them down for an hour or so.

The other problem is that my moods dip, and my mind is fuzzy. I can't remember things I need to and anything learned on fasting days refuses to stick in my mind. I'm open to suggestions.

All of these are to be expected, especially when you deprive your brain of glucose. Stimulants will help, but may negate the benefit.

Ok, I have found that starting my fast at 6 PM helps, so at least I go to sleep feeling not too hungry, and have a meal to look forward to at the end of my 24 your fasting period. I have also found that instead of restricting my activity levels during my fast, I increase them, and this increase in physical activity distracts me from the hunger. You gotta stay REALLY busy though!

Funny, I'm not losing weight, but I am felling less bloated overall. Interesting, considering I have only been doing it for a month or so.

David.

http://www.nutrition.com.sg/ha/hacalcal.asp

Put in your numbers, how close is Resting Cal requirement to a good calorie restricted diet? Also if you check the max HR calculater try plugging in 220 for your age

What are you talking about? WHO, the FDA or any health authority have never mentioned that this "calorie restriction" malarky will do anything for you. This is a small band of radical people we're talking about, they're entitled to their theories and to eat what they want to. Don't post this stuff as fact because of the amazing amount of pro-cr people out their. The large health authorities are almost never wrong. If they thought there was a chance you could live a more healthy life by eating less they would advise it and not knock you off as underweight in their assessment. I used to be smack bang in the middle of their list without ever trying to be and then I got this "calorie restriction" thing into my head and went to anorexic levels. Now I have to force myself to convince myself that I need to eat more, because that is what the health authorities recommend. In all heavens, don't you think they would at least have put the weight charts a little lower in the last few years if they thought this cr business wasn't ridiculous? (and cr is a biological term not to be applied to humans). People who are thin for more than a few weeks don't feel any more hungry than obese people. What is with life extension sites and cr? If you want to extend your life, keep far away from cr, cr will shorten your lifespan. Wouldn't it be so nice if we had a quick solution to live longer at the tips of our fingertips? They're great at showing you pro-cr experiments (half of them that are about insects, the results nothing to do with humans), some stuff to get you all excited and you don't have to work for it at all! Admit it YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING! A lot of the humans that went on cr turned out to have all their biomarkers going in the aging direction, of course cr members were putting at fault tiny little things they did in their diet. So put your trust in the large government health authorities. Of course overweight people are going to live longer if they cut down as the article above said. That's not what some people are doing and claiming. It's almost like some sort of penance that they do that they hope they will reap the rewards for. There are hundreds of diets the exact opposite to cr that claim to increase lifespan and they are allowed to be published (as opposed to less than the decimal number worth of hard to find cr books). Everyone is worried about their health, everyone wants to live longer, let's just not bother with these fad diets. I can't see why all these people want to go off on this crusade to undermine their health and longevity. The only place you'll see it anyway are on sites like these and something like cnn once in a blue moon. Oh and one more thing. Why is it that farmers live longer than all those anorexic people with perfect diets (who don't undergo starvation, no) put together? My dad is 74 and very fat and he does nothing but work all day long. He's pretty fat and yet he is very healthy. In fact mortality rates are very high for people under the lower weight limit, anorexic people don't usually eat trash as some cr fanboys spout out at a disturbing rate. They usually eat excellent food and are complete experts about their diet and what you should and shouldn't eat. Another thing is that Okinawa part of the http://calorierestriction.org site, I thought it was a joke when I first saw it. Okinawa people do not do anything of the sort they are implying you live longer for, they never sit down to rest, they don't get all their nutrition and they have high bmis (they are shorter than the Japanese themselves). "The people of Okinawa" article seriously had me almost laughing out loud, how misinformed can you make people? Here is something I wrote out for another forum as I feel I'm starting to repeat myself.

The word "nutrition" describes both the amount of food you are going to eat as well as the type of food you are going to eat, nutritious is a different term describing the nutrients in the food. Here is the definition from the Merriam Webster English dictionary of nutrition:
Main Entry: nu·tri·tion
Pronunciation: nu-'tri-sh&n, nyu-
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English nutricioun, from Middle French nutrition,
from Late Latin nutrition-, nutritio, from Latin nutrire
: the act or process of nourishing or being nourished; specifically :
the sum of the processes by which an animal or plant takes in and
utilizes food substances
- nu·tri·tion·al /-'trish-n&l, -'tri-sh&-n&l/ adjective
- nu·tri·tion·al·ly adverb
So what I say we do is this. We forget all this "calorie restriction" nonsense. Let's not bother about all this about an ON diet or a CRON diet but rather, let's look at the evidence for the *right diet*. If you weigh only a small amount, you are on average more healthy than someone who weighs in the middle of WHO or FDA recommendations. Do you honestly think this band of naysayers are more qualified to recommend your diet than the most elite dieticians on the planet?

Perhaps due to some weird twist of nature Dr. Walford and his merry list of other skinny doctors will live longer, but there is absolutely no evidence to suggest it and so, you are simply likely to die sooner if you are under the WHO recommendations. You go against scientific authority and convention, you lose. maybe it feels like you are going
against a nasty dictatorship, does it feel good to be at a very low weight? Unfortunately, you will be doomed to a premature death in 99 out of 100 lives. Maybe this 99 out of 100 lives thing appeals to you? Once a member of the CR society said to me "it's like taking a chance", well they are entitled to take it. On average though, I will live much longer. There is a similar chance that drinking three bottles of red wine will help you live longer also, so why not try
that? All this about "people are too fat to do it" is supposed to be part of their evidence that it will help you live longer. Now let's have a look at the utterly ridiculous statments the "calorie restriction society" put up against such logic. Try and figure out what's wrong with them, I've left their flawed logic as open as I can.

* CR is something like a chance. It may work or it may not work. FDA
scientists have no knowledge of probabilities, they have never stated
anything before that they said was likely to happen. They have never
ever said something "may" happen.

* The FDA don't want you to know this very important information
which will help you live years and years longer. Neither do the WHO
or any health authority. Who knows why, I guess it is because they
are all too fat. God knows all of the times before they have kept
such important information from the public. >> Note, I am actually
going to complain about the CR society to these authorities. They
probably won't care about this tiny bunch of people but they won't
want CNN and other media to broadcast it for sensational news <<

* The fact that nobody in the whole world "practices CR" apart from
about 10% of the entire planet and thirty people on this website
(half of whom weigh 180 pounds) just goes to show that people are
just too fat to do it. The fact that there is only a handful of books
in the past 70 years (and about one since 2000) published about CR
and they is in no bookshops(at least not the largest in my city) is
just extra evidence as to how people are too fat to do it. Dr.
Walford and the other authors indeed stress staying within the
recommeded bmis in his book and about getting plenty exercise, not to
mention that weight should be lost over about seven years, but look
at the mice experiments, look at them, they don't exercise and live
longer. You be your own scientist about it and reject the experts.
And what's more forget that there are many, many other diets which
claim to help you to live longer and advise the exact opposite of CR
and they too are allowed to be published.

* Top scientists the world over are making a very serious mistake.
They think that humans are somehow different to mice, that they have
somehow gotten some spiritual magic about them that makes them
different, just like those people on the Oprah Winfrey show. Well we
being the intelligent individuals that we are know that's not the
case and that humans are in fact the exact same as them, I mean
they've got lungs, a heart, a brain. Forget about all the atheist-
surprising data that shows they respond completely contradictory to
each other on many occasions similar to this. We've gotten over all
this lower lifeforms not as great as humans bible stuff.

* People don't want to live longer, stay younger and age more slowly,
they want to be more fertile. Of course CR doesn't actually make you
less fertile like in mice, but everyone thinks the opposite is true.

* It is true the term "calorie restriction" doesn't describe any part
of any diet at all except the reducing calories part. Let's just
forget about the fact that my cat can eat as much as he likes and is
going to live longest (my cat is 12 years old) because he's not in a
lab and learned to control his appetite, unlike those in a lab who
eat even more than those who are out in the wild exercising and have
an abundance of food. See? There is a negligable difference but a
difference between those who have the same weight and yet exercise
profusely and those kept in an intensive care unit structure. Who
cares "calorie restriction" is a purely biological term that is never
used on humans?

* The human evidence which is mostly contrary to CR isn't really
important. Look at the human evidence that proves CR, such as the
lowering of cholesterol levels, which hasn't been studied in detail
at all... well not as much as absolutely possible. The people of
Okinawa are very short, exercise copiously until the day they die and
don't get all of their vitamins and minerals.... But who cares if
they have high bmis, what is the "bmi index" anyway, just another
messed up thing created by health authorities. Listen to me for I am
the one true light. Thou shall not eat thy calories for they are
evil! He who has less calories, he is the one who shall live longest,
those sinful people who eat more, they shall die first!

* Nobody has anything to gain by you buying Dr. Walford's books and
software.

If people think calorie restriction... what the hell does that mean anyway? Those are two valid english words and I refuse for them to be degraded like that. If people think eating 1200 calories a day and not exercising is good for them I would say they are extremely misinformed. If you want something that takes effort to do, study for a biology degree or do something else constructive, it will actually help you live longer, this is the easy way out and the misinformed way out. It would be nice if you could live longer by not doing anything literally, but unfortunately that is not the way. Listen to
the experts! They are much more likely to be correct. Forget this nonsense.

allnewsuperman, a new study of a small number of cr practioners showed the power of CR. blood pressure akin to 10yr olds, tryglicerides better than 20yr olds, lower fasting insulin and glucose than the majority of the population along with increased insulin sensitivity, in one of the highest percentiles in terms of cholesterol profile( high HDL/low ldl) , and that in people even 82yrs old. The doctors said it clearly two of the biggest killers, cardiovascular disease and diabetes are extremely unlikely to touch these people in the foreseable future, they're poised to have a long live ahead according to their physical health/status it seemed.

Preliminary data from primate studies appears to validate this, and some 100+yr olds have said something like"I've lived this long cause I limit what I eat." , it'd be nice to do some statistical analysis and compare those who've made CR esque comments and non-CR, without genetic endowement( long-lived family members) that live to be centenarian or more.

In many studies insulin and similar things and hormones have been ever more connected to longevity. Fat % has too been connected to longevity, wiping ability to get fat, causes longevity enhancements akin to those of CR, but only about half of the longevity of CR is achieved.

Furthermore human cells exposed to sirtuin stimulating( proteins that IIRC are stimulated by CR) compounds are more resistant to radiation, lack of oxygen, and less likely to commit apoptosis. Yet, IIRC, when exposed to insulin or something like that the benefit goes away.... remember insulin and glucose are kept low in CR, sirtuins are stimulated with it. Insulin and glucose are higher in non-CR diets and sirtuins are not usually stimulated, or something like that.

Of course the diet must be high in nutrients, not empty calories, so as to avoid deficiencies. I recommend moderate CR, for you usually look better, and although I've not verified, it seems some plant compounds can stimulate the pathways and if overstimulation occurs it appears to negate benefits(I'll read nature to see if that's true), thus if we must eat a large number of plants, it's best to be moderate in CR so as to not allow for the possibility of overstimulation(again I'll have to look into this, not sure).

This post has been edited by apocalypse: May 23 2006, 06:23 PM

Is there any diffrence in lifespan between animal mostly eating CR diet consisting mainly of carbohydrates and animals mostly eating proteins?

Absolutely. It is a fundamental and much misunderstood aspect of CR.

The CR mediated effects are activated by a low glucose concentration in the bloodstream. If you look at the research you will find that the intracellular signaling mechanism that promotes the CR mediated effects such as increased DNA repair rate, etc. is upstream of insulin receptors* (insulin is released from the pancreas in response to high glucose levels). The other well known life extension modulating gene, SIR2, is also favorably altered by low glucose levels.

Consequently, a variation of the Atkins diet (low carb, high protein and fat) should reproduce CR effects without the need for complete starvation.

* insulin receptor is also known as DAF2 in flies.

Do you have any of you have links to Atkins diet. Have you thought about this:
modification of respiratory complex by AGE formation ---> respiratory complex dysfunction ---> inreased ROS production ---> increased mutationtrate? To sumarise sugar gives increased mutationrate.

J Nutr Biochem. 2005 Mar;16(3):129-37.
Beneficial effects of intermittent fasting and caloric restriction on the cardiovascular and cerebrovascular systems.

Mattson MP, Wan R. Laboratory of Neurosciences, National Institute on Aging Intramural Research Program, Baltimore, MD 21224, USA. mattsonm@grc.nia.nih.gov

Intermittent fasting (IF; reduced meal frequency) and caloric restriction (CR) extend lifespan and increase resistance to age-related diseases in rodents and monkeys and improve the health of overweight humans. Both IF and CR enhance cardiovascular and brain functions and improve several risk factors for coronary artery disease and stroke including a reduction in blood pressure and increased insulin sensitivity. Cardiovascular stress adaptation is improved and heart rate variability is increased in rodents maintained on an IF or a CR diet. Moreover, rodents maintained on an IF regimen exhibit increased resistance of heart and brain cells to ischemic injury in experimental models of myocardial infarction and stroke. The beneficial effects of IF and CR result from at least two mechanisms--reduced oxidative damage and increased cellular stress resistance. Recent findings suggest that some of the beneficial effects of IF on both the cardiovascular system and the brain are mediated by brain-derived neurotrophic factor signaling in the brain. Interestingly, cellular and molecular effects of IF and CR on the cardiovascular system and the brain are similar to those of regular physical exercise, suggesting shared mechanisms. A better understanding of the cellular and molecular mechanisms by which IF and CR affect the blood vessels and heart and brain cells will likely lead to novel preventative and therapeutic strategies for extending health span.

While CR can extend average lifespan, seems it may not have effect on 'rate of aging'... thus no increase in maximum lifespan. ~ Bruce


DR in Drosophila therefore has no impact upon the rate of ageing.
Dietary restriction, mortality trajectories, risk and damage.
Partridge L, Pletcher SD, Mair W.
Mech Ageing Dev. 2005 Jan;126(1):35-41

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