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Will I Live Longer If I Eat Less? Diet & Lifespan
Diet Article: How diet impacts longevity.
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The recent talk circling the Diet Village these days places the focus on eating an extremely restricted diet to increase lifespan.
For argument's sake, let's say that by severely restricting my daily diet, it will increase my lifespan by 20 - 50%. At this point, I must ask myself these questions:
- With an extreme reduction of calories in my diet, what will my quality of life be like?
- In the end, when the scientific studies are all said and done, will they find that these diet extremes cause more harm than good? By that time, it will too late to turn back my Diet Clock and correct any damage to my body.
- If I am able to stay on such an extreme diet, will I be able to tolerate the painful hunger pains?
- What will my skin look like? My hair? Nails? Teeth? How strong will my bones and muscles be?
While multi-vitamins can supplement a lack of nutritional values within the daily diet, they can't always meet the body's total nutritional requirements. For example, while calcium supplements are ultra popular - particularly among individuals concerned about their bone health, scientific studies prove that they can't compare to a serving of reduced fat milk.
- If I do indeed live 50% longer, and my children, friends and loved ones continue to eat a 'normal diet', it's going to feel very depressive when I'm left and they've passed on. Can I handle that?
Fact is, we can't live forever and with that in mind, why make our quality of life miserable? If you have heard this new trend circling the Diet Village, please note that you should never embark on this type of diet without the guidance of your professional health care provider.
Severely Restricted Calorie Diets for Weight Loss
While we are on the subject of restricted caloric diets, let's discuss popular weight loss plans that promote such. If you are considering any type of weight loss plan that is less than 1,250 calories per day, you should be under the direct supervision of a qualified doctor.
While many individuals eat no more than 1,400 or 1,500 calories per day - and are quite healthy, they are such because they incorporate the healthy basic food groups into their daily diet. Let's take a look at two examples to show why lower calories are necessary for one individual while for another - they can create serious health issues.
Sally is 4'11" in height and if she exceeds 1,500 calories per day, she will gain weight. On those rare days when she does exceed this amount, she incorporates a heavy dose of activity into her schedule to balance the energy so that weight gain will not occur.
Sally's daily caloric needs are based on several factors: height, age, muscle mass, gender, metabolic rate, activity level as well as other influencing factors. For snack times she enjoys a selection of fresh fruit, a grain serving such as a popcorn cake or hot air popped popcorn or lean jerky to contribute to her protein needs.
Hank is 6'6" in height and is considered extremely active. He is also into weight lifting. His daily energy needs equal 4,000 calories. If Hank were to switch diets with Sally, he would quickly lose his muscle mass; he would also become quite weak and unhealthy as the amount of energy which supports Sally quite adequately would not be sufficient to meet Hank's energy needs. In time he would lose so much weight he wouldn't need a skeleton costume for trick or treating time.
Now let's take this a step further and look at Jim and Jack. They are best friends; each of them are the same height and both enjoy identical activities. They often exercise together at the gym. They both have about the same body frame size and they share the same birth date. These friends mirror one another about as closely as two people can - on the surface.
Jim's body requires 2,400 calories to support his healthy weight while Jack's body requires only 2,000 calories to support his own. Fact is, Jim has a more efficient metabolic rate - his genes are much different than his friend Jack's. While Jack's family is mined with overweight members, Jim's family is on the skinny side.
While we can do a lot to control and maintain our weight - the genes play a huge part in the amount of calories that we can consume throughout our day.
In Summary: As we can see, there are multiple tiers to weight maintenance due to the caloric differences in individuals. Low energy diet plans are just that - they provide low energy to the body and should never be attempted without a doctor's supervision.
While vitamin and mineral supplements can assist some individuals who are in poor health and unable to get all of their nutrients from their daily diet due to health reasons, they are not necessary for healthy individuals. In addition, they cannot provide the same nutritional benefits that are provided by natural foods in the diet.
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