Life Extension

Most people only diet when they feel that they need to lose weight. Others stick to a strict diet regimen because they have a medical condition or they have ethical issues against eating animal products or they want to eat only organic foods. But people who live off of the calorie restriction diet are aiming for more than any of that: they're aiming to extend the length and quality of life itself.

Calorie restriction is a common practice of people who believe in and support life extension, or the study of ways in which to extend the average healthy human lifespan. Life extension believers who engage in the calorie restriction practice want not only a long life, but a long healthy life-a longer period of youth.

Life extension researchers are always striving to find new ways to combat and prevent diseases and to repair and strengthen cells to decrease the rate of aging. So far, calorie restriction is their one proven success.

Since the 1930s, the life extension scientists responsible for the development of the calorie restriction diet have successfully and exponentially increased the lifespans of mice, rats, spiders, worms, monkeys, dogs, and cows. Groups promoting the calorie restriction diet in humans have been prominent especially in the past twenty years.

How does the calorie restriction diet work? The prevailing tenet of the calorie restriction diet is that cutting back on your calorie intake will lead to stronger, healthier cells that age slower than cells in a person who eats a diet consisting of a moderate to high level of calories.

Scientists debate exactly how the calorie restriction diet works. One theory is that calorie restriction places the cells in a defensive mode because they lack the body's expected levels of calorie. Having the body in a continual calorie restriction-induced "defensive state" encourages the cells to remain highly active and alert in attempting to survive hardship, the side effect of which is a longer, healthier life.

Another theory on how the calorie restriction diet extends life is that the lack of calories counteracts instability in DNAs, which can lead to diseases in a normal diet. However the calorie restriction diet really works, the majority of scientists agree that calorie restriction shows definite results in animal testing.

If you wish to try the calorie restriction diet, it is important to discuss the risks and benefits of calorie restriction with an authorized medical professional. Calorie restriction dieters eat a diet rich with vegetables; low-fat proteins such as lean meat, some dairy, egg whites, fish, chicken, and turkey; some fruit; and "good fats" such as olive oil, nuts, and avocados.

The most important part of calorie restriction is to remember that you don't need to eat less-you need to eat well. Calorie restriction dieters need to supplement their diet with vitamins, minerals, and nutrients.

For more information on the calorie restriction diet and for online calorie restriction support, visit The Calorie Restriction Society at calorierestriction.org.