I've heard that there are those who "Live to eat" and others who "Eat
to live".   I want to be in the second group.... <g>
PJ

Pat, please do not make such sweeping statements unless you have some
substantial evidence for it. Search medline for "calorie restriction
mattson" and "calorie restriction" and see how many articles discuss
it.

The research on CR has been actively going on for 70 years.

Calorie restriction, defined as feeding animals a diet that has all
requisite nutrients (vitamins, minerals, amino acids) but is 30-50%
deficient in calories (depending on the species), produces dramatic
improvements in health and life expectancy of a large number of
species: yeast, rotifers, spiders, worms, fish, mice, and rats, and
emerging data suggests that it may apply to primates as well.

Improvements in health include increased insulin sensitivity, less
oxidative damage to tissues, much reduced incidence of neoplasms
(cancers and other tumors), reduction in incidence of degenerative
brain disorders such as Alzheimer equivalents, etc.

Quite a few people, myself NOT included, have taken it upon them to
try CR on themselves. CR animals (and people) are always hungry and
somewhat underweight. They are, however, healthier and age more slowly
than they would without CR, or at least that's what the initial
reports suggest.

I consider CR to be an extremely likely way to increase lifespan and
health. I am not yet practicing it because, first, I want to see a
little more proof, and second, because I am not sure if I have the
willpower to do it.

It is very clear, however, that CR is a real concept and not something
to be dismissed as quackery.

It is also very clear that overeating is a major impediment to health
and is to be avoided.

Newsgroup sci.life-extension is dedicated to the discussion of various
life extension methods and it may be worth adding it to this thread.

To the OP: read Dr Roy Walford's _The 120 year diet_ and _beyond 120
year diet_. Walford is one of the researchers in this area.

i
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