Eat Less and Live Longer

Everybody is always talking about the newest healthy weight loss fad in town. The common denominator is we have to eat fewer calories to shed a few pounds off. The thought of eating less calories usually comes with the fear that we will end up being hungry or deprived of our favorite foods. Losing weight is just one of the benefits of caloric restriction (CR). It has also been supported with necessary evidence that there are additional beneficial anti-aging effects of caloric reduction in one’s daily diet. One of the most important dietary knowledge that has captured the interest of many is how to slow aging with caloric restriction.

One important fact to keep in mind is that caloric restriction (CR) is not necessarily equivalent to malnutrition if the nutrient values are dense. This is not about ending up starved but about being healthier with what is consumed by the body. Initially calories consumed can be lowered by changing not how much is eaten but what is eaten. It is not surprising that fruits and vegetables are lower in calories but have high nutrient density. If you are interested to slow aging with caloric restriction, eat a lot of those, as well grains, beans and fish.

Lessening the consumption of calories has been found to be effective towards having a longer life. There is also the absence of certain illnesses that are related to aging such as heart disease, hypertension and dementia to name a few. This is proven through modern experiments conducted on primates and mice.

In studies with experimental animals, when the brain regions responsible for cognition and memory were measured, there was a significant difference in the amount of atrophy of the brain tissues. In animals on caloric restriction, there was less atrophy as compared to the control group of animals, which was allowed to consume as much as they wanted. As a result, the control group that was on unrestricted caloric intake was showing the obvious signs of aging such as atrophy and other diseases. A 30% caloric reduction resulted in slowing the aging process by 30%-40%.

A human male takes in a little over 2600 calories a day on average. However, it is quite impossible to specify the amount of calories everyone should consume. This is because of a couple of factors such as body size and metabolism. More so, different individuals engage in various amounts of physical activity on a daily basis. Two different individuals may consume the same amount and type of food but still vary in body weight because of the above-mentioned individual differences.

The key to slow down aging through less calorie intake is first by taking note of the number of calories taken in a day. Take note of this for a whole month to determine your average calorie intake. Lessen the amount of calories consumed by 5 percent on the second month. You should, however, be careful not to be left hungry or starving. The foundation of the whole process lies on the modification of one’s diet. The high calorie foods should be replaced with foods of lower caloric value which are rich in nutrients.

Visit your doctor and ask him to work with you on this one. Initially, a baseline should be set for your cholesterol, fasting blood sugar and blood pressure levels. On the following month, the caloric intake should be reduced at another 5 percent. At the end of the month, the measurements should again be noted down. This is done month after month. When you see any clear improvements on the statistics, you can be assured that you are effectively slowing the aging process your body is going through. The reduction process should continue until the changes stop. This indicates that you have reached the calorie intake level you need in order to end up with a longer and healthier life.

Resveratrol, which is found in red wine and skin grapes, has been shown to mimic the effects of a caloric restricted diet. Studies have shown that in addition to potentially slowing the aging process, Resveratrol is the biggest medical discovery since antibiotics with many cardiovascular, anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer benefits, just to name a few. If you want to slow aging with caloric restriction but the process seems too difficult to attempt, why not try nature’s perfect supplement, Resveratrol?