Settling a persistent scientific controversy, a long-awaited report shows that restricting calories does indeed help rhesus monkeys live longer, healthier lives.
...
First, the animals in the two studies had their diets restricted at different ages. Comparative analysis reveals that eating less is beneficial in adult and older primates but is not beneficial for younger animals. This is a major departure from prior studies in rodents, where starting at an earlier age is better in achieving the benefits of a low-calorie diet.Second, in the old-onset group of monkeys at NIA, the control monkeys ate less than the Wisconsin control group. This lower food intake was associated with improved survival compared to the Wisconsin controls. The previously reported lack of difference in survival between control and restricted groups for older-onset monkeys within NIA emerges as beneficial differences when compared to the UW-Madison data. In this way, it seems that small differences in food intake in primates could meaningfully affect aging and health.
Third, diet composition was substantially different between studies. The NIA monkeys ate naturally sourced foods and the UW-Madison monkeys, part of the colony at the Wisconsin National Primate Research Center, ate processed food with higher sugar content. The UW-Madison control animals were fatter than the control monkeys at NIA, indicating that at nonrestricted levels of food intake, what is eaten can make a big difference for fat mass and body composition.
The study says nothing about whether the monkeys lived happier lives.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 18 2017, @07:59PM
Unless you can manufacture pleasure in foregoing life's pleasures, you're in for a long, healthy, and incredibly unsatisfying life.
"Wine is constant proof that God loves us and loves to see us happy."
—Benjamin Franklin
If I had to give up indulging in alcohol, then I'd probably just leap from a building and be done with this whole patently useless experiment we call "life".
(Score: 4, Interesting) by DannyB on Wednesday January 18 2017, @08:27PM
I know most people feel that way. I find it puzzling. I have never indulged in alcohol or drugs. Yet I find my life quite satisfying. Even as I age and have more aches and pains.
Kidney stones not too long ago. I was given narcotic pain killers. I used them. When that whole episode was over, I stopped using them. Now I have a drawer with more narcotics than any sane person should have. I have no desire to want to take them. Not even a little bit. In the back of my mind, it's nice to know that they are there if I ever had a genuine need for them.
As for food and weight, I could probably stand to lose twenty pounds. But I'm happy. I know I'm not going to live forever. I'm fine with that. I'm not sure that calorie restriction would make me happier. Is quality of life more important than quantity?
Maybe happiness is partly because I have a fairly non stressful life.
So, I have never understood the alcohol thing. Or drugs. I don't get it. What is the appeal? When I took narcotic pain killers I hated being in a drug induced stupor and not having full control of my mind.
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(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 18 2017, @08:46PM
I didn't like narcotic pain killers either; in fact, they just made me feel nauseated. Alcohol, however, is awesome—when administered appropriately. You touch my alcohol, and I'll kill you.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Wednesday January 18 2017, @09:00PM
In case it wasn't clear, I have no interest in taking away your alcohol. Or your guns. Although I prefer to have neither.
I do believe that both cause certain problems in society and need *some* moderate amount of regulation. With an emphasis on moderate.
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(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 18 2017, @09:58PM
Of course it was clear; I was just trying to juxtapose your disinterest with my fanaticism.
The questions are these:
Under the influence of alcohol, for me: aches and pains become tolerable, food tastes exquisite, colors are more attractive, the world fuller of mirth, theatrical catharses more intense, sex seems noticeably more passionate and spontaneous, philosophical discussions seemingly new, etc.
Once you go there, you just have to get back. You HAVE to! Alas, over the years, the effect has become increasingly muted; is the future doomed to dour sobriety?
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Wednesday January 18 2017, @10:54PM
In normal life: I can take drugs for aches and pains, even prescription drugs. Food is great, which is a problem that I have to regulate. :-) I like colors, especially bright ones, but also find other more plain designs sometimes appealing. Sex would seem to be diminished on alcohol, not enhanced. Philosophical discussions would seem to be best if you are sober enough to think straight and write code you are willing to commit. I don't understand theatrical catharses, and did not google it.
As for going there, I did try alcohol in college (very early 80s) but didn't see the appeal of it. Similar for cigarettes. Tried weed a few times. Interesting, but it is not really anything I need. I don't see that it would improve my life any. Who knows, maybe one day for medical reasons. But that is hopefully not any time soon.
Sweets, like chocolate, they're great. But don't have any mind altering effects I can perceive.
So does that inform you of anything?
It is an interesting thought whether my sober brain is like yours on alcohol.
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(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 18 2017, @11:38PM
Drugs affect people differently, if you didn't care for it then its hard to experience the pleasurable sides.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 19 2017, @12:14AM
I've got your theme song right here. Gimme That Wine [genius.com]
"I can't get well without Muscatel"
Lyrics by Jon Hendricks [genius.com] are just freaking awesome repeatedly. [googleusercontent.com] (orig) [secondhandsongs.com]
-- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by Aiwendil on Wednesday January 18 2017, @11:38PM
"You can't miss* something you've never had"
(* = emotional sense, not "suffer a lack of")
Personally I find life boring without tea (not caffeine, but tea), mainly due to the ritual of preparing and drinking it (and I get downright mean without my morning cup of hot chocolate).
But to answer with regards to painkillees - when you are in pain they normalise you (this is why you don't get addicted if you use them right), but when you use them recreationally (usually a much stronger dose than medically justified) you basically put a few of your systems in overdrive (or shut them down if it is a downer) and later on feel "off" when not operating at the drugged level and want to get "normalised" to it.
So - yeah, the reason why you don't get it is because you've never been put in the state that demonstrates it.
(Also - individual responses matter. I get nauseous from epinedrine/adrenaline, so I've never understood the point in stuff that causes surges of it (like winning in competition, or non-precision sports (e.g. running, fotball and so on), or riding a fast car/ride, or "the joy of completing a task"))
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 19 2017, @09:01AM
I smoked, then I stopped. I got drunk and picked the habit of drinking beer every waking free hour. Then I lost it.
I guess some people, like me and you, are just not that much into addiction. But that is not to say that there are things that you will feel with a substance that you won't ever feel without it. I personally loved marijuana, and had it for many years. Then one day I felt like it isn't giving me anything new, so I stopped it.
Btw, I will definitely have marijuana when watching marvel movies, specially the good ones. These movies like guardians of the galaxy etc. are not meant to be seen multiple times, and they are just amazing with ganja.
(Score: 2) by Username on Thursday January 19 2017, @04:50PM
Now I have a drawer with more narcotics than any sane person should have.
That’s dangerous to have. There is a common tactic of leftist crybullies called swatting. If you offend them, they call the police with wild stories of you being a dangerous drug dealer, rapist, home intruder. SWAT will crash through your door, arrest you and find this stash. Now you’re up a creek without a paddle.
I’ve assembled a lot of medical supplies in order to have my kitchen double as an infirmary for when SHTF and I cannot get to the bunker. The main thing it’s laking is good set of analgesics and anesthetics, not because I cannot get them, but because the liability they pose to my non-incarceration lifestyle. It irritates me to no end. I hope Trump legalizes all drugs.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Thursday January 19 2017, @09:10PM
I don't think it's enough to get into trouble for. They all have a prescription label. My doctor knows exactly why I have them.
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(Score: 2) by DannyB on Friday January 20 2017, @02:49PM
One other thing. People who would engage in swatting are not all leftist. While I'm sure beyond doubt that some of them are, you would have to be blind to think that (some) right leaning people would not also engage in such a despicable act.
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(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 18 2017, @10:56PM
hmm get some mushrooms then, you may no longer need the alcohol.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 19 2017, @12:46AM
It's probably a wise to develop a panoply of vices, so as to jump from one to the other in moderation.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 18 2017, @11:41PM
Alcohol has its place, but over the last few decades it has had diminishing returns for me personally. The negatives outweigh the benefits, and being sober is a little more boring but overall more pleasurable. Alcohol has subtle effects on your mood for days if you get nice and drunk, not just the next morning. If you drink regularly then your body is depressed and you've traded the short term alcohol "fun" for the long term body satisfaction. Not saying to not drink, just 1x a week at most if you want to manage the negative effects properly.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 19 2017, @12:51AM
Is it better to get hammered infrequently, or slightly buzzed not-infrequently?
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 18 2017, @08:02PM
I enjoy eating, too much so. However, one thing I've noticed is that over eating does not make me happier. Eating something tasty is one of the most ephemeral joys we can have, it over so soon that I seriously doubt the defense of "I'd rather die happy than live longer in austerity". It is the same defense used over and over, but statistically people who get their lives together are the ones that suddenly find happiness.
Don't overeat. Don't abuse drugs, Do get exercise. Those three things are what maintain the highest level of "happy" for me, because overeating makes me feel worse for at least 24hrs. Drinking too much depresses my body functions and makes me get sick more easily. Exercise combats both of those.
The fat monkeys probably enjoy their meal times more, but the ones with a good diet undoubtedly enjoy their daily lives more.
To each their own, and while I may preach moderation it is still a struggle and a lesson I've learned through my own mistakes. As for the article, I also anecdotally agree with the natural foods conclusion. If I cook for myself and keep a high amount of vegetables with a low amount of sugar, well I feel a lot better!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 18 2017, @08:30PM
I think the key here is that you feel "better", not that you feel "Great!".
Being alive is, actually, quite uncomfortable—it's your choice: You can either feel uncomfortable, or you can feel even more uncomfortable.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 18 2017, @09:57PM
I knew someone who once said he feels uncomfortable in his own skin. I'm sorry if you suffer from a similar issue, but personally I don't find any discomfort unless I'm treating my body badly or I'm sick. After a good run and a shower I actually do feel great. My day to day is "I feel fine" cause the human body is great at learning to ignore problems.
For a short period I did hot yoga regularly. It is intense, but my body sure did feel great afterwards and I felt good almost all the time. I should build my own hot yoga room, got tired of having to be around a bunch of newage types just to get the workout.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Wednesday January 18 2017, @10:27PM
That's why you find the right club and do it around hot young newage women. Of course, I've assumed your gender, sexuality, marital status and/or faithfulness here. If gawking isn't your style, you could memorize some pro-vax and pro-GMO factoids and try to cause them mental anguish. Call it mental yoga, an essential part of the full enlightenment package.
Hang on, how "hot" of a yoga are we talking here? In the sauna? In the buff?
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 18 2017, @11:55PM
Hot yoga is literal, 100+ degrees F, up to 110-120. I regularly drank almost a gallon of water per session, stinky business with 10-20 people...
I realize you were kidding, but giving legitimacy to anti vaxxers etc. is the opposite of mental yoga, that is delving into deception and social bullshit which will only clutter your path to inner peace :P I should clarify, it was a combo of newage crap (which I can mostly handle) and competitive attitudes. Hot Yoga, or the popular franchise you may have heard "Bikram Yoga" is the only type that pushes competition. They actually have yoga competitions, which I'm sure would make the old masters roll over in their graves. Its supposed to be about personal development and exploration of your own body, not comparing to how well someone else can do a pose. My instructor once decided to show off and lightly pulled a muscle... so wrong from the philosophical perspective of Yoga. It is funny you mention mental yoga, even as a jest, because the standard teachings are that physical yoga is only half. If you're not doing the mental part of meditation and reflection then you aren't really practicing yoga, you're just a weird gymnast.
PS: Did you just assume my gender fambae??? TO THE GULAG!
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Wednesday January 18 2017, @09:18PM
Granny ate like a bird, lived to 99.
Nobody ever saw her mother eat, but she did chew tobacco until she was 97, lived to 101.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 2) by maxwell demon on Wednesday January 18 2017, @10:16PM
Like what sort of bird? A humming bird? [dw.com] :-)
Quoting from that link:They eat up to twice their weight in nectar every day making them not only the hungriest birds but the hungriest animals outside the insect realm.
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Thursday January 19 2017, @12:58AM
No, a 115lb granny who ate like a 4oz blue-jay, without scaling up by a factor of 460.
I believe the expression "eats like a bird" is in common use throughout the English speaking world, and has been transliterated into many other languages.
Idiom: eat like a bird
Eat very little, as in Jan is very thin—she eats like a bird. This simile alludes to the mistaken impression that birds don't eat much (they actually do, relative to their size), and dates from the first half of the 1900s (when granny was born). An antonym is eat like a horse, dating from the early 1700s, and alluding to the tendency of horses to eat whatever food is available. For example, I never have enough food for Ellen—she eats like a horse!
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 2) by mcgrew on Thursday January 19 2017, @06:26PM
My grandmother as well, but only after she was about 70. She never smoked or drank though. Her brother did, started smoking at age 12 and quit when he was 82, died at 92.
But you do realize that's not the norm.
mcgrewbooks.com mcgrew.info nooze.org
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Thursday January 19 2017, @08:51PM
Oh yeah, had a boss who smoked a pack a day and got himself a heart attack and subsequent stroke around age 55.
Great granny was just too mean to get cancer.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 3, Informative) by takyon on Wednesday January 18 2017, @10:19PM
1. Caloric restriction (CR) for the purpose of anti-aging isn't new.
2. Results on the effectiveness of the approach are mixed (medical science, folks). This is mentioned in the linked ScienceDaily reprint, and SD links to this [sciencedaily.com] in the sidebar. Although the researchers seem to have accounted for more variables this time around, the "shadow of doubt" is far from gone.
3. CR's effects could supposedly be triggered by drugs/supplements like resveratrol (that's just an example, the field seems to have moved past it. Resveratrol has big name recognition as a result of that explosive 60 Minutes segment from several years ago).
4. Most Burger-Americans won't go for vanilla CR, which is just fine for the Malthusians around here who feel threatened by life extension.
Pan-mTOR inhibitors may be superior to rapamycin for antiaging [nextbigfuture.com]
Another informative talk by Aubrey de Grey on life extension [nextbigfuture.com] (not yet watched, it's sitting in my tabs)
I would be surprised if we found one lone magic chemical that took care of the easy parts of life extension and boosted lifespans by 20%. There's also no suggestion that you will live forever if you meticulously track your eating habits in a journal or app. Even throwing in a 24/7 personal trainer and future genetics-based advice for the ultimate optimization of CR will only do so much. Truly effective life extension is going to require nanomachines that can move within cells and hit the SENS targets [wikipedia.org] by fixing nuclear DNA, clearing out inter/extracellular waste products, extending telomeres, and removing cancerous cells as they are encountered.
Life extension justification shouldn't be needed to convince over-50 Soylentils to jump on the CR (or healthy lifestyle) train. There's probably much better studies out there showing that a reasonable diet and weight will allow you to have much better quality of life, mobility, decreased chance of Alzheimer's, greater chance of living independently compared to fat peers, etc. So when TheMightyBuzzard inevitably chimes in and says that he will drink beer everyday and live any which way, don't listen unless you want to find yourself out of breath from walking across a room.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by Justin Case on Wednesday January 18 2017, @11:35PM
I won't know if CR works until I die (or don't) but it isn't as difficult as you'd think. I made a radical cutback a few years ago and after a period of adjustment it has been pretty painless. You think "I need three meals a day because I've always had three meals a day" but it isn't true at all. My body has adapted to expecting far less, and I don't feel hungry until my normal mealtime, which except for special occasions is only once a day.
And no, I don't pig out for that one meal. I eat exactly the same foods and quantities as I used to eat for one of my three meals.
Talk to your doctor first... major changes like this should not be done without checking and monitoring your overall health.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Thursday January 19 2017, @02:05AM
The radical knowledge that eating less causes weight loss or stabilization is widely available. And yet Burger-Americans be fat still.
I'm not saying it is impossible to practice CR. Just that it isn't regarded as the optimal option when certain chemicals like resveratrol could activate the desired effect. But metabolism is hard and there's no guarantee that a magic compound in a pill capsule will work. Nanobots are the only credible option for "unnaturally effective" life extension because they could fix accumulated DNA and cell damage, and aren't likely to have significant side effects like drugs do.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by butthurt on Thursday January 19 2017, @02:59AM
The radical knowledge that eating less causes weight loss or stabilization is widely available. [...]
But metabolism is hard [...]
Yes. A small group (n = 14) of people drastically reduced their caloric intake temporarily, for the reality television show The Biggest Loser. Six years later, it was found that their resting metabolic rates were lower than just after they appeared on the show. They did, however, weigh less than before the crash diet.
/article.pl?sid=16/05/04/037259 [soylentnews.org]
/article.pl?sid=16/05/23/1214237 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by takyon on Thursday January 19 2017, @05:25AM
From my own summary:
I think we can safely throw that n=14 group's results into the garbage.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 18 2017, @11:58PM
The problem is that we can't agree on what those healthy foods are.
For the longest time, in the US we were told it was "carbs", esp. ones like whole grains.
Then Americans got fat as shit off this new carb-heavy, low fat, low protein diet.
Now the pendulum is swinging back to protein like it had been before that carb-heavy B.S.
I say go easy on the carbs and you will feel full for much longer. Protein, fat, and carbs must be eaten in the correct proportions. Go protein!
(Score: 2) by takyon on Thursday January 19 2017, @02:10AM
That's true. To muddy the carb waters, there's also digestion of simple vs. complex carbs, and high fructose corn syrup claimed to be more easily metabolized than sucrose even given the similar composition, and fruit juice being more easily metabolized than fruits. Fruit juice is also widely regarded as healthy even though it is very questionable "No sugar added" label? It must be healthy!
Caloric restriction could assume that you have already got the right balance of carbs, proteins, and fat, and you are merely scaling down the calorie count. Kinda like how the formula for Soylent has a certain ratio of carbs, proteins, and fat, and you just have to drink a certain volume of the goop.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 19 2017, @05:46AM
Here is something interesting I have been doing in the past 2 months or so.
I changed 1 meal out. My lunch is now a simple bit of fruit. About the same volume I was eating before. The rest of my meals and junk food are exactly the same (way too many colas and lots of HFC junk food, chips, burgers, etc). I have lost 10 pounds in the past month. My sleeping habits have also changed so it could be a mixture of that too. Not sure what to make of this result yet.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Thursday January 19 2017, @05:59AM
Maybe just less calories than would be in a burger/etc.? I looked up "pineapple calories" and got a result of 452 calories for an entire 905 gram pineapple. If you are eating just a couple of voluminous apples and pears, you might be getting less than 400 calories in your meal.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 19 2017, @08:13AM
That is my prevailing theory.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 19 2017, @01:12AM
The article seems a bit biased to me. I hate presumptive wording in science reporting that says that a single study has "settled" some controversy.
https://www.nih.gov/news-events/nih-research-matters/calorie-restriction-may-not-extend-life [nih.gov]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 19 2017, @08:37AM
Calorie Restriction Lets Monkeys Live Long and Prosper
Great. Now if we restrict their calories even further, they might even live as long as humans, who already live much longer than those species where calorie restriction has been shown to make a difference.
(Not to say that we should eat unlimited calories, getting overweight is detrimental to your health, but as long as you stay in the normal healthy range, you are likely to live longer than your body was built to last (e.g. cancer risk increases enormously after 80, calorie restriction is not going to help with that).