The 120-year diet

Venhaus, A

doi:10.1093/ajcn/47.1.162a

Cited by 12 publications

(8 citation statements)

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“…Blood pressures (BPs) were taken while seated. To help evaluate the unexpectedly large weight loss by 6 months of closure, body fat was estimated by measuring skinfold thickness of triceps, thigh, and subscapular areas, using a standard formula (4 …”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The calorically restricted low-fat nutrient-dense diet in Biosphere 2 significantly lowers blood glucose, total leukocyte count, cholesterol, and blood pressure in humans.

Walford

Harris²,

Gunion³

1992

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Biosphere 2 is a 3.15-acre space containing an ecosystem that is energetically open (sunlight, electric power, and heat) but materially closed, with air, water, and organic material being recycled. Since September 1991, eight subjects (four women and four men) have been sealed inside, living on food crops grown within. Their diet, low in calories (average, 1780 kcal/day; 1 kcal = 4.184 kJ), low in fat (10% ofcalories), and nutrient-dense, conforms to that which in numerous animal experiments has promoted health, retarded aging, and extended maximum life span. We report here medical data on the eight subjects, comparing preclosure data with data through 6 months of closure. Significant changes included: (i) weight, 74 to 62 kg (men) and 61 to 54 kg (women); (i) mean systolic/diasolic blood pressure (eight subjects), 109/74 to 89/58 mmHg (1 mmfg = 133 Pa); (iit) total serum cholesterol, from 191 ± 11 to 123 ± 9 mg/dl (mean ± SD; 36% mean reduction), and high density lipoprotein, from 62 ± 8 to 38 ± 5 (risk ratio unchanged); (iv) triglyceride, 139 to 96 mg/di (men) and 78 to 114 mg/di (women); (v) fasting glucose, 92 to 74 mg/dl; (vi) leukocyte count, 6.7 to 4.7 x 10 cells per liter. We conclude that drastic reductions in cholesterol and blood pressure may be instituted in normal individuals in Western countries by application of a carefully chosen diet and that a low-calorie nutrient-dense regime shows physiologic features in humans similar to those in other animal species.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The calorically restricted low-fat nutrient-dense diet in Biosphere 2 significantly lowers blood glucose, total leukocyte count, cholesterol, and blood pressure in humans.

Walford

Harris²,

Gunion³

1992

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

Self Cite

187

100

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show abstract

“…The most egregious example of spinning the bad news is provided by Walford (1986). In defiance of all the human and animal data (and, for that matter, the conservative logic of the CRL effect), he asserts that the underfed organism is an especially randy organism:…”

Section: Sexual Behaviourmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…There is no basis for speculating that his two decades on CR contributed to the development of his disease-or that earlier or more stringent CR could have prevented it. Although some obituaries noted the discrepancy between his quite ordinary age at death and his promotion of 'the 120-year diet' (Walford, 1986(Walford, , 2000, Walford always emphasized (correctly) that his own longevity was merely a single data point in the study of human CRL. He strayed from the evidence, however, when he persisted on CR after the onset of his illness and credited the diet for slowing its progression.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Caloric restriction for longevity: II—The systematic neglect of behavioural and psychological outcomes in animal research

Vitousek

Manke

Gray

et al. 2004

Euro Eating Disorders Rev

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Research on caloric restriction for longevity (CRL) has generated hundreds of articles on the physiology of food deprivation, yet almost no data on consequences in other domains. The first paper in this series outlined the generally positive physical effects of CRL; the second analyses the meagre and sometimes disturbing record of research on behaviour, cognition and affect. The available evidence suggests that nutrient-dense CRL in animals-just like nutrientpoor semi-starvation in people-is associated with a number of adverse effects. Changes include abnormal food-related behaviour, heightened aggression and diminished sexual activity. Studies of learning and memory in underfed rodents yield inconsistent findings; no information is available on cognitive effects in primates. To date, the CRL field has ignored other variables that are crucial to the human case and known to be disrupted by chronic hunger, including sociability, curiosity and emotionality. Promotion of CRL for people is irresponsible in the absence of more reassuring data on the full range of expected outcomes. Eating disorder specialists should be contributing to scientific and public discussions of this increasingly prominent paradigm.

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“…can breed like rats' is disconcerting-and also revealing, in that it illustrates the surplus meaning often attached to AL and CR consumption by the messianic branch of the CRL field. Like patients with AN, some advocates invest the control of natural appetite and normal weight with moral significance, implying that non-restrictive eating is somehow a sinful and bestial choice as well as an imprudent one (Walford, 1986(Walford, , 2000Weindruch & Walford, 1988). Walford's intimation that inches can be exchanged for IQ points is simply baffling.…”

Section: Growth Retardationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Caloric restriction for longevity: I. Paradigm, protocols and physiological findings in animal research

Vitousek¹,

Grubbs²

2004

Euro Eating Disorders Rev

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The initial article in this series reviews basic findings in the field of caloric restriction for longevity (CRL). To eating disorder specialists, the data are disconcerting. The chronic dieting and subnormal weight we endeavour to prevent and treat in humans appear highly beneficial when imposed on animals. In the laboratory, organisms from nematodes to monkeys thrive when forced to undereat, as long as they receive sufficient micronutrients. The most remarkable results are obtained through the most extreme measures: mice, for example, do best if limited to a third of expected caloric intake, beginning soon after weaning and continuing throughout adulthood. Deprivation can be achieved through an 'anorexic' protocol of steady underconsumption or a 'bulimic' pattern in which periods of fasting alternate with bouts of binge eating. The benefits of such regimens include delayed senescence, postponement and/or attenuation of age-related disease and dramatic increases in average and maximum lifespan. Although some biological functions are impaired (including growth, reproduction and perhaps resistance to certain stressors), the cost/benefit ratio clearly favours CRL when calculated on the basis of physical outcomes in late age. Advocacy of comparable regimens for people, however, is ill-considered. Enthusiasm for CRL can be sustained only by detaching deprivation from the context of daily life, ignoring psychological effects, and dismissing data on human semi-starvation and eating disorders. The experiences of participants in Biosphere 2 and individuals with anorexia nervosa suggest that the price of CRL is unacceptably high when a wider range of outcome variables is examined.

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The 120-year diet

Cited by 12 publications

References 0 publications

The calorically restricted low-fat nutrient-dense diet in Biosphere 2 significantly lowers blood glucose, total leukocyte count, cholesterol, and blood pressure in humans.

The calorically restricted low-fat nutrient-dense diet in Biosphere 2 significantly lowers blood glucose, total leukocyte count, cholesterol, and blood pressure in humans.

Caloric restriction for longevity: II—The systematic neglect of behavioural and psychological outcomes in animal research

Caloric restriction for longevity: I. Paradigm, protocols and physiological findings in animal research

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