subject: When To Go On The Diet [print this page] Author: michaelrussell Author: michaelrussell
I definitely do not recommend that anyone begin the high low diet until fully grown. But after that, the sooner the better. Beginning the program halfway through life should yield about half the degree of life extension as starting in young adulthood, and proportionately for other time periods. Caloric restriction beginning in childhood might yield the greatest extension of maximum life span, but is still an unacceptable option for humans. Substantial restriction in very young animals may cause an increased infant or early age mortality, even though the survivors do go on to enjoy remarkably long lives. We could not sacrifice a small percentage of young humans to ensure long lives for the survivors. Also, restriction during the growing years in animals is often associated with a smaller final body size. In humans, this could mean being 6 to 8 inches shorter than nonrestricted persons. Do not take this to mean that a somewhat lower calorie, higher quality diet would not potentially increase life span for today's children. Indeed, translating this animal data into human terms, Dr. Morris Ross II stated that a difference in daily intake of 100 to 125 calories during the period of human growth would influence the duration of life by 2.5 years. Empty calories for children energy snacks and the like are bad news for their health later on in life.
How To Lose Weight
The high low diet works very well for rapid weight loss. In fact, because of its nutrient density, it is certainly the best and probably the easiest of all diets for that purpose . At an equivalent caloric intake, it will leave you feeling better and less hungry than other diets. But a word of caution is needed here. In Western societies, enormous subliminal and not so subliminal pressure is exerted on everyone to be as slim as starlets and models. We are made to feel we should be not merely "not fat" but positively slender. Responding to this pressure, people plunge desperately into quick weight reduction regimens. A popular diet book promising rapid, painless slenderization comes out almost every other month. No checkout counter tabloid is without one. From the standpoint of health and longevity, quick weight loss is harmful. It had been known since 1935 that if you kept animals on a low calorie, supplemented diet from time of weaning, you could dramatically extend life span and decrease susceptibility to disease. But nobody could make the method work if it was started in adulthood. Indeed, in the early experiments this actually shortened the life span. Studying these early experiments, Dr. Richard Weindruch and I noted that the investigators had put the animals suddenly, or over a very short period, on the lower calorie diet. This sudden switch, we reasoned, may have injured them metabolically. Then in our own investigations we found that if the high/low diet was begun very gradually, leading to a very gradual weight loss (equivalent to weight loss in humans over a 4 to 6 year period), life span could be greatly extended and disease incidence reduced. 12 If this applies to humans, then the quick weight loss promised by most modern diet books may be dandy for your immediate cosmetic appeal, but across the board bad for your ultimate health and for the long term cosmetic appeal of looking younger than you are. Anyway, almost everyone knows that all these diets don't work very well. You lose weight but then you gain it back. Then you buy another highly touted diet book, and do it again. The whole cycle is discouraging, irrational, and unhealthful. If you adopt the high low diet primarily to live longer, don't lose weight too fast. Allow yourself ample time for metabolic adaptation.
What calorie range suffices to enable you to lose weight slowly over a 4 to 6 year period, placing you below your set point, or very possibly resetting that point? The range will vary from person to person, but we can form a general idea. Not long after World War II, scientists at the University of Minnesota performed a very pertinent experiment with 32 young male conscientious objectors. 13 Kept on a strict 1,600 calorie per day diet for 6 months, the subjects lost weight fairly rapidly, and the loss leveled off to a maintenance value of 75 percent of the original weight. Once lost, the weight was not regained unless more than 2,000 calories per day were given. Start your own program with about a 2,000 calorie high. low diet if you are an average size man, 1,800 calories if a woman, and see if this induces gradual weight loss and at the same time improves your sense of physical well being. If so, continue. If you are losing weight too fast or too slowly or not at all, adjust your intake accordingly. The food and menu combinations given in Appendix A are pitched to approximate or exceed the RDAs for all important nutrients at a level of 1,500 or fewer calories. Unless you have a medical reason for wanting quick weight loss, add about 300 to 500 calories of intake to any of these daily regimens. Choose whatever you like for these extra calories, but keep in mind what I shall outline in the next chapter about susceptibility to the major killer diseases.
About the Author:
Michael Russell is a health specialist and has carried out research on many health related things, he also writes many too. If you found the above article useful he recommends you to visit his site at: http://www.online-health-care.com/blog/ for more related articles.
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