Eat up, little turkey gobblers
In lieu of a real post today I'm going to post a link someone sent me to an article about Caloric Restriction, or CR – the philosophy or science of eating just enough nutrient-dense food to keep you alive, with the minimum of calories, in order to extend your lifespan far, far beyond what is considered "normal."
It works for worms, mice, even some monkeys – maybe it will work for people, too! But as someone in another article said, people don't like feeling perpetually hungry, and living forever might not necessarily be all it's cracked up to be, either – "isn't that what makes vampires so cranky all the time?"
On the other hand, eating this way does seem to have some fairly reliable health benefits, including increased energy, disease resistance, lowered blood pressure, and of course longer life, at least in theory (there's always the possibility of alien abduction, falling anvils, etc.). Check out this nut case for a glorious extended list of the benefits.
There was a whole long section of this post that I've deleted for now, having to do with an episode of Frontline I saw last night about Living Old. I may post on that topic some other time, but for now, the upshot of it was that if I'm going to be old, I definitely want to be healthy, or at least mentally positive, alert and engaged in life (check out this awesome interview with a 94-year-old woman stock broker!). I'm not sure I'm interested in living to be 130, 140 or 150 years old, though, especially if it means spending my remaining 90, 100 or 110 years on the brink of starvation.
It works for worms, mice, even some monkeys – maybe it will work for people, too! But as someone in another article said, people don't like feeling perpetually hungry, and living forever might not necessarily be all it's cracked up to be, either – "isn't that what makes vampires so cranky all the time?"
On the other hand, eating this way does seem to have some fairly reliable health benefits, including increased energy, disease resistance, lowered blood pressure, and of course longer life, at least in theory (there's always the possibility of alien abduction, falling anvils, etc.). Check out this nut case for a glorious extended list of the benefits.
There was a whole long section of this post that I've deleted for now, having to do with an episode of Frontline I saw last night about Living Old. I may post on that topic some other time, but for now, the upshot of it was that if I'm going to be old, I definitely want to be healthy, or at least mentally positive, alert and engaged in life (check out this awesome interview with a 94-year-old woman stock broker!). I'm not sure I'm interested in living to be 130, 140 or 150 years old, though, especially if it means spending my remaining 90, 100 or 110 years on the brink of starvation.
2 Comments:
I wouldn't want to live to be 130+ either. I think I've probably already done enough damage (with my butter intake) to ensure that that's not going to happen.
But I agree, we're all (probably) going to live longer than previous generations and I can't think of anything more important than having one's health in old age. I'm hoping that since I'm not overweight (despite the butter!) and I get a fairly decent amt. of exercise that will be enough, but I know I could be eating better.
But the CR route? Couldn't do it. Food is one of life's great pleasures, and I think denying myself would have a really negative effect on my mental health.
I'm still reeling over the USDA last week deciding to eliminate the word "hunger" and replace it with "low food security." What a denial of people's reality! That said, Happy Thanksgiving. :)
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