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The secret to a long and healthy life? Eat less

bbc.com

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Re: The secret to a long and healthy life? Eat less

#51

Post by esolyt »

AznHisoka wrote: post #33
marricks wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the dynamics are more complicated than that. Some diseases seriously mess with your quality of life, whether it be chemo for cancer or blood pressure medicine with nasty side effects for heart disease. Or my least favorite, a decade of Alzheimer's. I heard the ideal death described as pretty solid health up to a very rapid decline, healthy food probably helps that.

Yep, totally agree. If you got acid reflux, you cant enjoy coffee or spicy foods at all. If only if it was as simple as enjoy junk food and your life and die a few years younger.

Exactly. The first 70 years of a 75-year life is probably more enjoyable than a 70-year old life.

Re: The secret to a long and healthy life? Eat less

#52

Post by pors »

There is lots of proof now that obesity is not caused by "more calories in than calories out", it is caused by hormone reactions to what you eat (esp. insulin). Just read the books by Gary Taubs for zillions of details and references to studies.

So the "eat less" claim in this article is again back to the old MD advice, "eat less and move more". Not going to work if you don't look at your macronutrients.

Re: The secret to a long and healthy life? Eat less

#53

Post by quickben »

vlasev wrote: post #36
louprado wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I recall watching a video of an engineer practicing CR. He looked miserable and older than his years. He was constantly cold and had chronic sore feet because the soles of his feet were too thin. When I don't eat enough, I don't get hungry, and I don't loose much weight, but I do have trouble sleeping which results in daytime fatigue and depression. For me the happiness/sleep threshold is sharp, so I eat just above t…

I'm not sure if you skip breakfast, but if you do, you are missing a strong signal to your circadian rhythm. What happens is you end up sleeping later and waking up later as the rhythm shifts towards your first meal of the day.

Interesting. How much time after wakeup should the breakfast be? I'm usually 1-2 hours after, and I find that I tend to wake up later and later.

Re: The secret to a long and healthy life? Eat less

#54

Post by oh_sigh »

vlasev wrote: post #36
louprado wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I recall watching a video of an engineer practicing CR. He looked miserable and older than his years. He was constantly cold and had chronic sore feet because the soles of his feet were too thin. When I don't eat enough, I don't get hungry, and I don't loose much weight, but I do have trouble sleeping which results in daytime fatigue and depression. For me the happiness/sleep threshold is sharp, so I eat just above t…

I'm not sure if you skip breakfast, but if you do, you are missing a strong signal to your circadian rhythm. What happens is you end up sleeping later and waking up later as the rhythm shifts towards your first meal of the day.

Do you have any source of proof of any of this? I have no problem waking up at 630am after 7 hours of sleep and not eating anything until after noon.

Thinking to premodern humans, do you think they would frequently have food waiting for them as soon as they awoke? Some days maybe, but then other days probably not.

Re: The secret to a long and healthy life? Eat less

#55

Post by quickben »

j7ake wrote: post #13
ericjang wrote: post #9

Does that imply that lifting, building up one's body and consuming excess calories to bulk up is somehow stressful for the body's metabolic aging process?

whether you are muscular or skinny, you have the same set of organs. The fact you are 30 percent bigger in mass means all your organs (heart, liver, kidney, muscles, ...) are working much harder than if you had less mass.

That's wrong. The heart grows proportionally with effort ( hence why pro athletes have troubles later in life.

Re: The secret to a long and healthy life? Eat less

#57

Post by oh_sigh »

j7ake wrote: post #13
ericjang wrote: post #9

Does that imply that lifting, building up one's body and consuming excess calories to bulk up is somehow stressful for the body's metabolic aging process?

whether you are muscular or skinny, you have the same set of organs. The fact you are 30 percent bigger in mass means all your organs (heart, liver, kidney, muscles, ...) are working much harder than if you had less mass.

Adding 30% body mass I would be a very large increase...almost no one but the most dedicated lifters could do that.

Re: The secret to a long and healthy life? Eat less

#58

Post by microcolonel »

cyrusshepard wrote: post #37

Good overview of the benefits of calorie restriction, but doesn't touch on two of the most important schools of thought of the past couple years. 1. Calorie restriction is almost impossible for most humans to follow long term 2. Many of the same benefits of calorie restriction may be achievable through intermittent fasting, which is much easier for people to follow. I've been experimenting with a daily 16 hour fast (…

I'm settling into IF as well, seems to be working okay. It is surprisingly alright to not eat for a considerable number of hours, and extending that period seems to make me less hungry instead of more.
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