I have been on a reduced calorie diet (one meal a day) since the start of february and have lost over 10 kg of both fat and muscle.
Reduced- calorie diet shows signs of slowing ageing in people
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Re: Reduced-calorie diet shows signs of slowing ageing in people
#52I've been experimenting with it for two years, along with a high-nutrient diet based on vegetables (almost no refined foods). I just did about two weeks at 1,000 calories per day and am on day 3 of a water fast. I'll increase the caloric intake next week. I hope it's safe. Some else posted this link in a comment, and it's worth reading too: https://www.theguardian.com/science/blog/2009/jul/14/ageing-...
Fasting is largely safe, but you have to monitor your weight loss. If you lose weight too quickly, you're losing a lot of muscle mass and this can adversely affect your heart.
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/10/magazine/chest-pain-recent...
Keep up some cardio and exercise to keep heart's muscle mass and dial down calories slowly.
Re: Reduced-calorie diet shows signs of slowing ageing in people
#53This is difficult to follow in daily life although not impossible. Given that food is becoming less nutritious as per [1] taking less food will mean less nutrition which can affect general well-being. Figuring out foods high in nutrients, low in calories will require a lot of discipline. [1] https://www.nature.com/articles/nature13179
> Figuring out foods high in nutrients, low in calories will require a lot of discipline. Will it, really? 1. Skip the snack aisle 2. Visit the fruit and veg aisle 3. Eat meat and replace candy with low-sugar nutrition bars
You are pointing out foods low in calories(which is good) but as per the link I quoted they may not be that nutritious.
Re: Reduced-calorie diet shows signs of slowing ageing in people
#54I cannot find it right now, but I am quite sure that in last few weeks there was a post on HN with roughly the same statement, but for high protein diet.
No, the evidence for high protein is the opposite - shortening life by increasing cancer risk: "study cohort aged 50–65 reporting high protein intake had a 75% increase in overall mortality and a 4-fold increase in cancer death risk during the following 18 years" Levine ME, Suarez JA, Brandhorst S, et al.: "Low protein intake is associated with a major reduction in IGF-1, cancer, and overall mortality in the 65 and y…
From your link, "the subjects consumed 1,823 calories on average per day, of which the majority came from carbohydrates (51%), followed by fat (33%) and protein (16%), with most of it (11%) derived from animal protein. The percent of calorie intake from protein was used to categorize subjects into a high-protein group (20% or more of calories from protein), a moderate-protein group (10–19% of calories from protein), and a low-protein group (less than 10% of calories from protein)."
Strange, that doesn't seem like a high protein diet to me. Athletes, particularly resistance trained athletes, regularly consume 30% or more of their calories in protein.
Further, from your link, "These associations [of protein -> higher mortality] were either abolished or attenuated if the proteins were plant-derived." So protein itself is not the problem, despite the study's authors repeatedly asserting this.
Re: Reduced-calorie diet shows signs of slowing ageing in people
#55That’s great and all, but you cannot build muscle unless you’re on a caloric surplus. Good bye resistance weight training with the goal of having more muscle. The irony is that having more muscle would also increase the amount of calories you need to maintain (not get bigger/fatter, not get smaller). What I’m trying to say is that a “deficit” completely depends on what your current lean body mass is. If I want to go…
IANA scientist, but the article claims new evidence that a reduced calorie diet can slow metabolism, which would impact the “surplus” side of that equation.
But if you don't fulfil the daily macro requirements then from what exactly does the muscle builds?
Re: Reduced-calorie diet shows signs of slowing ageing in people
#56Personal anecdote : I always ate little and spend most of my life underweight. I look extremely young for my age. I estimate I rarely eat more than 1500 kcal a day When I think about it, most visibly underweight people I know tend to look young. Does anyone have the same observation?
Humm not really. In my perception, as you age and lose collagen, it seems to be that thinner people tend to show more wrinkled skin on their faces. A good example to me is Anthony Bourdain. Here's a picture of him in 2014 and four years later: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_Bourdain#/media/File:A... http://www.bravotv.com/blogs/anthony-bourdain-comic-book-hun... Don't believe four years alone does that to some…
He doesn't look terrible for being over 60. Don't forget that the restaurant industry is a stressful job with long hours, and he's known for his incessant smoking, drinking, and drug use. Neither of those things lead to a youthful appearance.
Re: Reduced-calorie diet shows signs of slowing ageing in people
#57Personal anecdote : I always ate little and spend most of my life underweight. I look extremely young for my age. I estimate I rarely eat more than 1500 kcal a day When I think about it, most visibly underweight people I know tend to look young. Does anyone have the same observation?
Inverse, Skinny all my life until I was around 21, then started steadily (slowly) gaining weight. Now I'm classified as "Overweight" but I'm not outwardly fat looking.
However, I do look quite old for my age, I'm 28 and could easily pass for 35. I had/have a high metabolism all my life.
Re: Reduced-calorie diet shows signs of slowing ageing in people
#58I have been on a reduced calorie diet (one meal a day) since the start of february and have lost over 10 kg of both fat and muscle.
10KG? in 6 weeks? that sounds like a dangerously high amount of weight loss.
Re: Reduced-calorie diet shows signs of slowing ageing in people
#59No one's going to mention that the title is wrong? The experiment showed that a calorie reduced diet slows metabolism in humans. The researcher specifically says that a long term study that follows participants until their death would be required to see if they live longer.
> to see if they live longer.
This is quite subtle, but whether or not people live longer is not the same as speed of ageing. Still, it could be argued that this subtlety makes the title misleading, which is also "wrong" in a way.
If metabolism is tied to speed of ageing (don't know if that is established or not) then the title would be technically correct.
Re: Reduced-calorie diet shows signs of slowing ageing in people
#60I've been experimenting with it for two years, along with a high-nutrient diet based on vegetables (almost no refined foods). I just did about two weeks at 1,000 calories per day and am on day 3 of a water fast. I'll increase the caloric intake next week. I hope it's safe. Some else posted this link in a comment, and it's worth reading too: https://www.theguardian.com/science/blog/2009/jul/14/ageing-...
Fasting is largely safe, but you have to monitor your weight loss. If you lose weight too quickly, you're losing a lot of muscle mass and this can adversely affect your heart. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/10/magazine/chest-pain-recent... Keep up some cardio and exercise to keep heart's muscle mass and dial down calories slowly.
Thanks for the heads-up. I lost ten kilos of weight last year without trying due a mix of medication reducing my hunger and a sudden development of lactose intolerance (so "accidental fasting" I guess), and didn't particularly do any exercise. I was aware that I might lose muscle mass but hadn't considered the effects it might have on my heart.