Everyday Systems

I doubt anyone here was attempting this but the New York times reports that a new study by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Cancer Institute:

"...suggest[s] that the practice of deliberately starving oneself to live longer, called caloric restriction, might actually have the opposite effect in some people."

"...33,000 deaths a year could be avoided if the thinnest 2 percent of Americans were of normal weight..."

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/24/weeki ... 4kola.html

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I never quite got why living to 120 as a miserable ghoul was a desirable thing, but imagine doing this for years and then finding out it doesn't even work!

Further lesson (and one that might temper the above): ye who base your hopes and habits on the latest scientific study may be sorely disappointed when the next one comes out.

I normally just lurk in the NoS discussion, but I had to respond to this with a hearty AMEN to your comment "I never quite got why living to 120 as a miserable ghoul was a desirable thing". I've heard of people doing the CRON program (Calorie Reduction, Optimal Nutrition) and they sounded like some of the most miserable fools on the planet. Talk about quality vs. quantity. Of life, that is. Whether it works or not, I always thought it sounded incredibly masochistic. And these people were doing it based on studies done on rats and monkeys (not humans), that SEEMED to indicate living on a semi-starvation diet could produce an abnormally long life. I wouldn't do that even if it had been 100% proven. But precious few scientific studies ever do that for any theory. Anyway thanks R. for the link.

Reinhard. That post topic is the funniest thing you have written in a long time!
You are really a great satirist! (I think that's what I'm trying to call you? LOL)

Too bad all those overcontrolling deprivation masochists aren't on the "in" with this new finding!
It doesn't even work?????!!!!! Really? You're kidding??? LOL...
That just is too much!
Love and continued admiration for a source of constant entertainment and inspiration ,

Well gotta go and listen to Richard playing, and singing, his acoustic version of Led Zep's "Your time is gonna come" Future rocker here!
Have a lovely evening all!
Peace,
Deb

Hmm, yes. I've always thought that starving through the best years just to end up eating slops in an old folks' home can't be worth the candle.

And apparently even medical doctors often don't fully understand (or read enough detail to understand) scientific studies and what can be extrapolated from them.

Over here, a committee of our parliament (the House of Commons Health Select Committee) just recently published a report on the Influence of the Pharmaceutical Industry that recommended all doctors have specific and ongoing training in undertsanding clinical trials!


Julia

I figure I'm going to live just as long as God wants me to live and not one day longer. What I am aiming for, though, is to live healthy and strong for whatever time I have so I can do good for those around me. Being overweight (which brings on arthritis in my knees) and poor nutruition are not the way to go in this regard. I think this No S Diet is a good way to eat reasonably.

You're absolutely correct, Starving yourself into longevity doesn't even work. The https://topamericanwriters.com/thepensters-com-review/ brought forward some interesting ideas which I really enjoyed. Honestly, I didn't expect it to have gone that well.

Absolutely agree Reinhard. I know lots of ladies who restricted this that and the other the be very thin, whereas my Mum has just been pretty healthy and sensible. Now in their 70s and 80s many of my mum's peers have osteo issues and their skin is dreadful, like old handbags. My poor little auntie was thin obsessed and now she must have shrunk 10 inches in height and she's all stooped over.
I am embracing my ROUND face as I now think it's probably for the best in the long run!

A quote I recently heard seems to apply here:

"If I could only get back the years that I spent trying to extend my life."

Roy Walford (may he rest in peace) led, or has led, a lot of people down the calorie restriction path. I read his book, Beyond the 120 Year Diet. I recall being interested in the topic, but after the first lunch, on the first day, I knew I was not going to go anywhere. Not only do the folks who follow this "life style" starve themselves, they often exercise the crud out of themselves. Exercise, in and of itself, does not appear to add to longevity beyond the normal human life span. Although, a new study (sorry no citation) has indicated that strength training has age defying qualities to it. According to an article in Men's Health (years ago, I cannot find it on line.) swimming also is an exercise which seems to "reverse" aging. Who knows.

Your best bet for a longer life is: do not smoke, do not drink (or at least if you do, in moderation) and have a great double helix.