janrinok writes:
"Research carried out the the University of New South Wales (Australia) reveals that consuming a diet low in nutrients might, under certain circumstances, actually lead to a longer life."
The article continues:
Scientists have known for decades that severely restricted food intake reduces the incidence of diseases of old age, such as cancer, and increases lifespan.
'This effect has been demonstrated in laboratories around the world, in species ranging from yeast to flies to mice. There is also some evidence that it occurs in primates,' says lead author, Dr Margo Adler, an evolutionary biologist at UNSW Australia.
The most widely accepted theory is that this effect evolved to improve survival during times of famine. 'But we think that lifespan extension from dietary restriction is more likely to be a laboratory artifact,' says Dr Adler. Lifespan extension is unlikely to occur in the wild, because dietary restriction compromises the immune system's ability to fight off disease and reduces the muscle strength necessary to flee a predator.
(Score: 5, Funny) by edIII on Tuesday March 18 2014, @06:16AM
I, kid you not, was sitting here snarfing down a deliciously decadent breakfast hamburger replete with half and half fries.
My first though was, "I may be screwed"
Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by c0lo on Tuesday March 18 2014, @06:27AM
Choices, choices... enjoy your life or live a long bland life (if not for delicious food abstinence, then made bland by having the NSA-type looking over your shoulder).
Paraphrasing Alexander Woollcott: "All the good things in life are either immoral, illegal, or fattening"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 18 2014, @09:06AM
I was also thinking that even if it doesn't actually add years, it will seem like it does.
Looking at the story that was posted after this one, maybe this is the treatment that was used.
-- gewg_
(Score: 5, Insightful) by VLM on Tuesday March 18 2014, @12:06PM
"live a long bland life"
My strategy for many years has been the other way around.
Rather than an entire bucket of KFC, a single homemade chicken cordon bleu, with imported ham and decent "real" cheese. Rather than two double quarter pounders, just 4 oz of best grilled filet mignon. In the rare event I drink, a couple microbrews rather than an entire case of miller lite. Rather than 3 tablespoons of mystery ingredient margarine, 1 teaspoon of the finest butter. Rather than all you can eat fish fry, a really good bento box of sushi.
It seems to work out pretty well and ends up costing about the same.
Given two choices I usually grab the more paleo, lower carb / higher protein option. I probably eat 3 or 4 grilled chicken caesars salads with all fresh ingredients including lettuce I grow myself, for every frozen tastes like cardboard pizza.
Food that makes me fat is actually pretty gross. Velveeta on white bread? Plain white rice? Pasta with ketchup like ragu sauce? Cake frosting that tastes like slightly rancid crisco shortening? Yuck. And when I'm trying to loose weight the food always tastes better. Homemade, home grown salad with a little steak. A (emphasis on singular) sushi roll. Homemade fajitas with my own lime marinating sauce.
(Score: 2) by nitehawk214 on Tuesday March 18 2014, @12:50PM
I think you have the theory down here. It is far more complicated than "eat lots, life short vs. slow metabolism is long life". This much has been known for decades. It's all about choosing your spots when consuming.
"Don't you ever miss the days when you used to be nostalgic?" -Loiosh
(Score: 1) by Gremlin on Tuesday March 18 2014, @02:16PM
I'm slowly heading this way too. Recently converted to butter from margarine and I'm now eating smaller amounts of good quality food rather than stuffing my face. Still have my bad moments like the 15 ton kebab I ate last night, but I'm getting better :-)
(Score: 2) by JeanCroix on Tuesday March 18 2014, @01:47PM
(Score: 0) by crutchy on Tuesday March 18 2014, @09:11PM
the problem with the whole "food pyramid" and having x number of serves from each food group etc is that it implies eating a huge amount of food every day
all i do is pop a multivitamin in the morning and eat a decent meal in the evening (with the odd snack between)... who's got time to cook a banquet for one (or family) every day?
(Score: 5, Interesting) by dublet on Tuesday March 18 2014, @09:33AM
There is a lot of evidence that a calorie restricted diet makes you live longer: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calorie_restriction#E ffects_on_humans [wikipedia.org] So this research isn't exactly new. There's an emerging branch of dietary science that indicates that occasionally fasting can have surprising benefits, it's being popularised as the 5:2 diet [wikipedia.org] .
"If anyone needs me, I'm in the angry dome. [dublet.org]"
(Score: 5, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 18 2014, @10:38AM
That section lists a whole pile of bad things that happen when you calorie-restrict, including
It also says that " the high quality diets consumed by the CR practitioners may be responsible for some of these beneficial effects," ie, that it may be eating better rather than less that provides those beneficial effects.
This is not very different from what Adler means by "lifespan extension from dietary restriction is more likely to be a laboratory artifact." Lab animals are raised in pathogen-limited or pathogen-free environments and fed diets specifically designed to maximize weight gain in juveniles. It would not surprise me to find that older animals and humans thrive on a different balance of nutrients than pre-pubescent animals and humans
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Waraqa on Tuesday March 18 2014, @11:06AM
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 18 2014, @05:12PM
Yeah, I was wondering about that... First the article on discovering the existence sugru, and now the shocking news about calorie restriction. Have the approved SN submitters been in food comas since 2009?
(Score: 4, Interesting) by TheSage on Tuesday March 18 2014, @10:08AM
As others have pointed out, this is not really surprising news. For me, much more unexpected are recent findings that suggest, that the main culprit here may be protein. So, a low protein diet may have nearly the same health benefits as a low calorie diet. For further reading you can start with the Naked Scientists [thenakedscientists.com].
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 18 2014, @06:11PM
Might not be protein so much as Methionine: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methionine#Methionin e_restriction [wikipedia.org]
Eventually you're going to die of something so pick your "poisons" wisely ;).
Living longer is good, merely lasting longer isn't. Don't be like a car that's never driven, very slowly rusting away. But don't be like a car that's a wreck after just a few laps either ;). Try to figure out early what works for you and what doesn't.
(Score: 5, Funny) by randmcnatt on Tuesday March 18 2014, @11:50AM
The article (actually a press release) does not actually mention any research, just a theory that might explain why lab animals live longer on restricted diets: it's not the restriction, but the lack of nutrients. So maybe some experimentation is in order.
Actually, I had a friend who designed an experiment to prove that cancer in rats is caused by rat food: 100% of the control group would probably have never developed tumors. I'm glad he never got a grant to run the research.
The Wright brothers were not the first to fly: they were the first to land.
(Score: 0, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 18 2014, @12:32PM
Some people will always die young, regardless of their age. (Hint: Their last name is "Young").
(Score: 4, Informative) by deterioration on Tuesday March 18 2014, @01:24PM
http://news.softpedia.com/news/Why-Do-People-of-Ok inawa-Are-the-Most-Long-Lived-on-Earth-53411.shtml [softpedia.com]
It makes sense really. Put simple to break down stuff in body less often, load on system is reduced, system lives longer - particularly when supported by like-minded cross-section of society on same intake of same food/exercise/data...
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 18 2014, @06:14PM
see also: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/28/magazine/the-isl and-where-people-forget-to-die.html?pagewanted=all &_r=0 [nytimes.com]