Eat Less, Live Longer!
Improving the quality of life and functionality in our lives is a subject that interests many. Yet most of us are at risk of having a shorter life span due to unhealthy diets, poor lifestyle choices, and the threat of chronic diseases.
A new study aimed at lifting the lid on what a person can do in their lives to ensure a longer, healthier life has been revealed. According to the study, the quantity (and of course also the quality) of food that we are eating could make all the difference.
Conclusive studies have pointed out that, restricting calories may enhance the immune system, reduce levels of inflammation throughout the body, delay the onset of age-related diseases, and lead to living a longer and healthier life.
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Calorie Restriction. aka C.R. aka Dieting. Understanding the concept.
Calorie Restriction (caloric restriction or energy restriction) is a dietary regimen that reduces food intake without causing malnutrition. (courtesy Wikipedia)
In easier words, the total number of calories consumed is reduced but the food eaten is still nutritious and meets the body’s daily recommended requirements.
Calorie Restriction is a term used to describe what you and I call Dieting!
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So, what does the study say?
Every health expert has always said, eat small frequent meals. It is not only good for losing weight, but also overall health.
A new study, on the same note, has suggested that eating less is linked to a healthier and longer life. The study, conducted by researchers from China and the United States, was published in the journal Cell. The study provided a detailed report to date on the cellular effects of a calorie-restricted diet in rats. As per a report in ANI, these studies show how this restriction can protect against aging in cellular pathways.
“We already knew that calorie restriction increases life span, but now we’ve shown all the changes that occur at a single-cell level to cause that,” said a researcher, Juan Carlos Izpisua Belmonte.
Aging brings several health-related issues alongside, which include cancer, dementia, diabetes, and metabolic syndrome. In animal studies, Calorie restriction has been shown to effectively reduce these age-related diseases.
Another associated researcher Concepcion Rodriguez Esteban says, “People say that ‘you are what you eat,’ and we’re finding that to be true in lots of ways.”
“The state of your cells as you age clearly depends on your interactions with your environment, which includes what and how much you eat,” Esteban added.
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How many calories should one be eating?
The NHS said: “An ideal daily intake of calories varies depending on age, metabolism, and levels of physical activity, among other things.
“Generally, the recommended daily calorie intake is 2,000 calories a day for women and 2,500 for men.
“To lose weight in a healthy manner, you need to use more energy than you consume by eating a healthy, balanced diet with fewer calories while increasing your physical activity.”
Eat Less, Live Longer!
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Why Calorie Restriction is difficult to apply?
CR is tough to apply in real life? Here’s why:
Many developed nations have culturally large appetites and obesity-prone environment. The levels of calorie restriction needed to achieve the benefits may be too low for most people and will start showing uncomfortable signs of physical starvation.
Drastic weight loss in women may lead to stopping of periods and will increase the risk of osteoporosis, especially if the diet is too low in Calcium and Vitamin D.
The body tends to protect itself from a lack of food by conserving energy. Energy conservation that occurs during CR can produce side effects that resemble famine-ridden populations or anorexia nervosa including cold intolerance and loss of strength. Decreased sex drive is also a common side effect, which may support the theory that CR re-directs energy away from reproduction.
As a lifestyle, CR requires considerable meal planning, food restriction, and enduring some hunger. Reducing too much of what you normally consume, may prove to be unsustainable in the long run.
Eat Less, Live Longer!
Read: Your Complete Guide To Healthy Snacking.
How to use Calorie Restriction effectively in our life?- The Bottom Line!
To gain the best from it, we need to treat CR as a lifestyle choice rather than a short term solution. Take your time getting there!
Attaining optimal health and weight through calorie restriction should not be seen as a 100 meters sprint but as a marathon.
The steps to use Calorie Restriction effectively and safely are as follows-
#Completely stop the consumption of high calorie-low nutrition food groups such as colas, refined flour, and processed food. Allow your body to get used to this new normal.
#Gradually reduce the intake of salt, refined sugar, and unhealthy fats and replace them with their healthy substitutes. e.g regular refined salt can be replaced by rock/pink/Himalayan salt and refined white sugar by palm sugar or honey.
#Replace Carbohydrates of High Glycemic Index with those with Low Glycemic Index. e.g. white rice with brown rice, wheat with tuber vegetables such as tapioca and sweet potatoes or oats.
#Plan your meals. Meal planning in advance helps to reduce the chances of binge eating when hungry.
#Drink plenty of water to hydrate well.
#Include some form of exercise in your life to multiply the benefits of CR manifold.
#Keep a keen eye on the nutrition status of your food. Don’t exclude any food group entirely. Fats are as important as protein.
#Don’t go too low on your calorie count. It’s not worth it.
#Enjoy your food cravings in a controlled and responsible manner.
If a CR is applied drastically to the body with the short-term goal of weight-loss in mind, the results may not be that promising. We need to view food as fuel and not entertainment.
Eat Less, Live Longer!
“Diseases are all different,”
“But they’re all associated with aging.
And calorie-restricted diets work.”
Low-calorie diets are a little difficult to adhere to, especially given the need to ensure adequate intake of essential vitamins and minerals. However, CR supports age-old advice to eat nutritious foods in modest amounts and maintain a healthy weight as the best protection against premature death and disease.
Eat Less, Live Longer!
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Honorary Mention: The Okinawa Diet: Eating and Living to 100.
Okinawa in Japan has some of the highest life expectancy rates in the world. So what are they eating? Most people assume fish.
It turns out that it’s whole plant foods, not fish, that makeup 90 percent of the traditional Okinawan diet: Less than 1 percent of the diet was fish; less than 1 percent was meat, and less than 1 percent was dairy and eggs. Most of the diet was based on vegetables and beans, with the most calories coming from purple and orange sweet potatoes. It’s not only a highly anti-inflammatory diet but also a highly antioxidant one.
Eat Less, Live Longer!
Okinawans who eat this way don’t only live the longest, they are also extremely healthy into old age, with:
- 6-12 times fewer heart disease deaths than the United States
- 2-3 times fewer colon cancer deaths than the United States
- 7 times fewer prostate cancer deaths than the United States
- 5.5 times lower risk of dying from breast cancer than the United States
What Is the Okinawa Diet?
The most important thing to know is that the Okinawa diet is more of an eating style rather than a diet plan.
The diet of indigenous Okinawans is rich in nutrients but low in calories. While they don’t purposefully restrict any foods, Okinawans generally don’t eat much meat, dairy, or grains. Otherwise, there are two key properties of this diet. First: It’s primarily plant-based.
Their daily diet is full of vegetables-roots, such as sweet potatoes, and yellow and green vegetables like pumpkin, bell peppers, bitter melon, and seaweed which makes this diet high in carotenoids which can lower inflammation and improve immune system function.
The second main factor of the diet is the 80/20 rule. In Okinawa, people aim to eat until they’re satiated but not completely full (hence, the 80 percent).
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Hara hachi bu: Okinawans recite this phrase before every meal. It reminds them to eat to 80 percent full, instead of stuffing themselves.
Think of it as eating dinner and saving room for dessert, but then you don’t eat the dessert.
Recommended Reads:
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