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The calorie-restricted diet
Are we all eating too much food?
I’ve not just been studying diets and nutritional advice from professional nutritionists and doctors who specialise in nutrition but experimenting with my own diet to see what works and what doesn’t.
And over the last two years, I’ve honed my diet — what I eat and drink — so that it really works for my health, vitality, weight, fat levels, and body shape. I added the clause because some people mistakenly think of diets as short-term changes to lose weight. No, it’s a permanent way of eating.
I came across calorie-restricted eating last year, and it fascinates me. The idea is that we eat too much food and the human body needs far less than we think. It’s suggested that reducing calorie availability by 20–50% extends lifespan, improves health, and decreases age-associated diseases.
In ‘the longevity diet’ by Brian Delaney and Lisa Walford, there is a chart that indicates the average life expectancy is 85 years, fully fed, 100 years, 20% restricted and 120 years, 50% restricted. These are startling figures. Cornell University’s case study drastically reduced rodents' food intake and they lived a third longer. There are other trials and studies that support these findings as more scientists and nutritionists become interested.
