Minutus

The Calorie Restriction Diet is basically eating less than recommended calories per day, maybe < 1200, which supposedly turns on one of the SIRT genes that are considered anti-aging and pro-longevity. You can Google for info and videos showing old mice on CR are youthful looking and acting vs. non-CR mice who aren't.
This has many possible benefits for preventing diabetes, cancer, Alzheimers, etc. and in preventing/reducing AGEs, advanced glycation end products, which is a problem in diabetes when prolonged higher than normal glucose levels decay proteins and age you faster causing heart attacks, strokes, etc.. Personally, I take 500+ mg of Carnosine which is one supplement thought to help prevent this.
CR Mimetics are the current rage in the pharmaceutical industry, which are way in the future drugs that will mimic this reaction w/o having to actually do the CR diet though it will not be promoted as an excuse to lead an unhealthy lifestyle. But we all know what will happen.
This is a good CR overview along with related topics like resveratrol. The research and hypotheses can become confusing as to what may be actually happening. FDA won't approve any new drug unless is meet specific criteria which Glaxo is having trouble with.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calorie_restriction
Research is showing CR may prevent Alzheimers by stopping plaque formation.
http://www.vitaminshealth.net/alzheimer ... 0%99s.html
A new book, The Youth Pill, is a detailed look into the current anti-aging research. Written by a Wall St. Journal science writer, I found it fascinating in the detail of what happens behinds the scenes. It is not a pro-pharma book and the author suggests steps we can take today.

http://books.google.com/books?id=cuUbae ... &q&f=false

One item I found of interest is avocados contain a sugar, mannoheptulose, which research suggest decreases insulin production, which can be helpful to those suffering from hyperinsulinemia. It is thought high insulin levels increase aging and causes cancer. I've increased my guacamole intake even though avocados are a type B blood avoid food on D'Adamo.
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/artic ... t-one.aspx
Another interesting new book theorizes high insulin levels cause prostate cancer, not high glucose levels and how diet can control this, including macrobiotic.

http://books.google.com/books?id=kCJSQS ... &q&f=false
Susan

I am always suspitious of Wikipedia articles since they are so anti-homeopathy/pro-big pharma
Tend to trust Mercola and Natural News (as 2 source examples) much better.
Mercola has changed my attitude about fats which, with great effort am actually trying to let myself increase.
After decades of restricting fats and struggling with that, I am now finding food more fulfilling while eating
less of it. But not to the 1200K level. I cannot handle anything less than 1400K and more like 15-1600K daily.
I find it interesting that you mention avocados as that is one fat food that is usually on the no-no list but is
supported by real health gurus. I add coconut oil to that list for all cooking purposes and olive oil (organic of
course) for salads. Many peoples in the world survive off coconut with all its uses and have no heart disease
and gorgeous skin.
Organic, raw, unpasteurized dairy products is a primary protein source, for me, Also high fat. I also
find that eating these dairy products do not develop cravings in me the way the processed cheeses do.
And I fortunately live in a community that supports this type of agriculture with growing numbers of producers
of organic, grass fed meats, dairy, eggs, frutis and veggies. So living and eating locally and organically
is comfortablypossible for me.
I do not believe that the drug industry will ever be able to duplicate nature--they never have and never will.
There are too many subtleties in nature that they have neither the will, nor the science, nor the patience to
try and really understand. Patenting and Profits are their only concern--certainly never health!!! There is
no profit in health. That should be one of our mantras in talking and writing.
I wonder how deep meditation affects the SIRT gene? It is always of interest to look at the long lives of
people in the high mountains of Albania or Tibet, just 2 examples, who traditionally lived very peaceful
lives as a slow and steady pace. I worked for a Buddhist group a while back and the head monk was
so youthful looking, like around age 30, but I know he was significantly older.
tanya

For another view of why the low fat diet actually worsens cholesterol read "Low Fat Lies." It refutes the bogus and unreliable studies done by Dean Ornish.

Marc, K4ZMB
k4zmb@bellsouth.net

Or check out Gary Taubes' excellently researched book "Good Calories, Bad Calories", which puts the lie to a whole load of medical fraud.
ginny
All stunts performed without a net!

I think Dean Ornish's touting super low fat diets is dangerous to health.
Further, the fear-mongering around cholesterol levels is disease-making
for big pharma--and they know it. It is their studies that are used to push
their toxic drugs which actually cause heart disease. I assume everyone
here knows that little fact.
I had a woman tell me this past year that her doctor wanted her cholesterol
levels down--below 100!!!! This is a 32 yr old woman who is not very bright,
on state medical system and is being experimented with, IMHO.
tanya

I think almost all so-called 'medical science' is a fraud.
Historically, the AMA and chemical industry were in bed together.
John D. Rockefeller was head of a growing chemical industry
and funded the medical industry and AMA in its early 20c days.
Even tho he believed in homeopathy, he turned a blind eye to
the sppointed leadership of the early medical society which
pursed a direction against natural forms of healing and an effort
for total control of health care. It was a totalitarian goal and had
nothing to do with creating health, but an attempt to create a controlled
medical industry which became cultist, demanding total loyalty to
the group and its public image and control of the public. Nothing
about health in their statement of purpose!
History is very important in understanding where we are today, but
few really know it.
tanya

In the book Low Fat Lies, the two authors, (one a physiologist/nutritionist and the other a PhD nutritionist) found that low fat diets were dangerous for at least two reasons: (1) low fat intake caused LDL cholesterol to form a type beta, or smaller molecule resulting in more penetration into arterial walls, and (2) the low fat intake inhibited the absorption of fat soluble vitamins. In the Lyon heart study they also refuted Dean Ornish's study. He only used 22 subjects and did not control for variables in his very limited study.

Marc, K4ZMB
k4zmb@bellsouth.net

Those are interesting facts. But the general impact of lowering cholesteral is to deprive cell walls of a nutrient they
need to health. The very cell's in the body become weak and cannot function. Your two points seem to be specific
impacts. The absorption of fat soluble vitamins is a very big one that has an impact on general health. The small
beta type LDL is a major contradiction to the so-called heart-healthy low fat diet.
There are probably numerous other impacts of cutting fat out of the diet. But the kind of fats eaten are also just as
critical
tanya