Originally published September 7 2005
Caloric restriction diet claims to add years to life, but evidence is sparse
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
A diet movement known as caloric restriction, or CR, claims reducing the number of calories you eat daily can add years to your lives, however, there have been no long-term studies to show its effectiveness, and some critics say certain people who claim they are following the CR diet for health reasons may actually be trying to mask an eating disorder.
But 50-year-old Walford, who admits her appearance could be considered gaunt, says the health benefits of her diet make it worth following.
As a devotee of a diet movement called caloric restriction, or CR, she believes that consuming less will allow her to live longer.
Are you really healthy?'" recalled Walford, who made media rounds this summer to promote her new book The Longevity Diet, co-authored with fellow CR practitioner Brian Delaney.
Myriad diet books on the market promise age-reversing effects through such techniques as copying the culinary habits of Okinawans, studying one's DNA or downing voluminous amounts of supplements and eating plenty of fruits and veggies.
But caloric restriction, an age-extending technique that has been shown to work quite well on mice and other organisms, is an increasingly popular option.
Message-board topics range from a study linking Alzheimer's disease and insulin levels to the health effects of a caveman-style "paleo" diet, to the question of whether it's important to eat breakfast even if one isn't hungry in the morning.
Since CR practitioners eat few calories, adherents believe it's necessary to pack as many nutrients into their meals as possible and to avoid starchy, processed foods.
One menu representative of a typical 1,500-calorie meal plan features foods like salmon, egg whites, nonfat yogurt and vegetables.
CR fans say the emphasis on nutrition and the fact that they pursue the diet for health reasons makes it quite different from eating disorders like anorexia nervosa, which stem from a fixation on body image.
But Merryl Bear, director of the Canadian National Eating Disorder Information Center, says many people who talk about going on diets for health reasons are actually using such arguments to legitimize unhealthy fixations about food and weight.
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