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The Theories of Caloric
Restriction and Aggressive Supplementation
Do shortcuts exist to a longer life?
There are many people that believe that there are.
One older couple feel that they have realized the key to longevity,
and they are dedicating their lives to testing the hypothesis. Paul
McGlothin, age 60, and Meredith Averill, age 61, have been following
a strict regimen of caloric restriction over the last fourteen years
in an attempt to prove that the technique produces enhanced life
expectancy.
What is Caloric Restriction?
Caloric Restriction is a form of diet in which an
individual consumes a lower than average number of calories in an
attempt to increase overall health and life expectancy. It is based
on the assumption that as long as we meet basic physiological needs
through human diet, the fewer calories we eat per day, the longer
that we will live as a direct result.
There is a significant amount of evidence which
correlates caloric restriction and life extension in animals, but
studies are just beginning to take place examining this phenomenon
and how it may relate to human beings. McGlothin and Averill are the
inspiration for one of these human studies, and are active
participants in one of those studies as well. Washington University
Researchers are monitoring the couple in order to investigate the
potential benefits of caloric restriction in human beings. This study
is one of the first three of its kind ever conducted.
In order to maximize the effectiveness of their
diet, they only consume certain foods which are loaded with
nutrition, while also being low in caloric content. These diets
consist largely of fruits, vegetables, and greensand proteins are
consumed relatively sparingly. They and other participants in this
study keep total track of the food that they consume. The couple have
shown that they consume around nine percent of their calories from
protein, thirty two percent from fat, and fifty nine percent from
carbohydrates.
During every possible meal, the participants in
this study weigh the food that they consume and maintain detailed
digital records of the calories and nutrition that they eat and
drink. Participants log into a computer program known as the
Cron-O-Meter in order to post their daily results. McGlothin
consumes around 1,900 calories per day, and Averill eats around 1,500
calories. These amounts are around 1/3 less than what the average
American male and female consume, respectively. Although the couple
are noticeably thinner than average, they maintain BMIs of 18, which
are considered normal for men and women their age.
McGlothin and Averill are convinced that the
benefits of their monitored diet plan are astounding. The couple have
authored a book titled The Caloric-Reduction Way as a means to
express to the public their lifestyle tips and their dietary choices
in order to spread their life-changing knowledge to a wider audience.
Averill has been told by doctors that her heart
and cardiovascular system are structured like a woman many decades
younger than herself. Her husband says that caloric restriction, as
it is engaged in by he and his wife, produces incredibly positive
effects on all manners of physical function. McGlothin is sixty years
old and says that he has perfect vision. In addition to this, he has
performed exceedingly well on cognitive tests, and his scores have
actually improved as he enters his sixties, when among most people,
the opposite occurs and the mental faculties slowly begin to
deteriorate. He laments that his old chess buddies just dont have
the ability to keep up any longer.
Caloric Restriction in the Animal Kingdom
Gerontologist Robert Butler was a psychologist
profoundly concerned with gerontology and reducing the suffering and
pain caused by the aging process. He coined the term Ageism in
order to highlight the unfair treatment of the elderly by the
generations that proceed them. The concept of ageism, Butler
believed, was the reason why scientific understanding of the latter
part of the aging process was so understudied and thus misunderstood.
Butler is also well-known for spearheading the
belief that senility is not an inevitability of the aging process,
thus opening the door for Anti-Aging and Longevity science. Butler
was the founder of the International Center for Longevity, and was an
important force in the group until his death in 2010 of leukemia at
the age of 83.
Doctor Butler says that caloric restriction has
produced the ultimate effect of life expectancy extension in nearly
every animal ever studied. It has been shown that a thirty percent
reduction in caloric intake has been connected to a thirty percent
longer life. Butler understands that there are normally certain
limits when attempting to relate animal research studies to humans,
because animal and human physiology can be quite different. This
particular case produces stronger evidence, however, because the same
results are being produced all throughout the animal kingdom.
Although we are likely to differ from a single animal, we are much
less likely to differ significantly from all animals as a group,
Butler strongly believes.
A recent study conducted with monkeys provides the
strongest evidence yet that Humans can benefit from caloric
restriction. Caloric restriction has produced evidence that monkeys
who are put on this diet live healthier lives. Butler does admit that
there are a couple of drawbacks, however. Caloric Restriction has the
potential to lead to both decreased libido and overall energy. Also,
there is the issue of compliance. Many people simply dont have the
willpower or patience for a restricted-calorie diet. For these
individuals, however, there is a chemical being researched known as
resveratrol which may have the capability to reduce the desire to
over-consume food and thus make living by a more restrictive diet a
simpler proposition.
Supplements and Nutrition
Of course, there are other strategies used to
enhance longevity as well. Doctor Grossman is the executive director
of Denvers Grossman Wellness Center. He believes that the key to a
longer life is to engage in a long-term regimen that includes a
healthy and nutritious diet, anaerobic strength training,
cardiovascular exercise, and meditation or other forms of stress
reduction. Dr. Grossman emphasizes prevention, and he begins his
patients initial treatments with a two day battery of complete
medical testing.
Dr. Grossmans team runs a comprehensive testing
program in order to unearth underlying hereditary diseases and
predispositions that have the potential to effect longevity. In
addition to this, the doctor works with his patients in order to
diagnose underlying health disorders and build a profile of the
hereditary history of family disease. Dr. Grossman uses all of the
information provided to him through testing and uses the results in
order to provide medications and supplements that work to optimize
the health of his patients.
Grossman has teamed up with a man named Ray
Kurzweil in order to co-author a book about the future of longevity
and Anti-Aging titled The Fantastic Voyage. Kurzweil is sixty
years old, and is a highly regarded inventor and scientist. Among the
list of prestigious recognitions he has received is the National
Medal of Technology. Kurzweil is currently serving in a top level
technological position with Google, attempting to create programs
that enhance the learning capability and speech recognition of
computers.
Kurzweil and Grossman believe that living a
healthy lifestyle can only do so much to enhance the lifespan, and
that the aggressive use of supplements is an important step in
slowing down the process of aging, in addition to living a healthy
lifestyle.
Kurzweil aggressively utilizes nutritional
supplementation. At one time in his life he claims that he utilized
over 250 supplements in order to attempt to optimize his own health.
Today, he has whittled that number down to 150. He is confident that
without this aggressive use of medical supplementation, he would not
be as healthy as he is today. Mr. Kurzweil undergoes a regular
hormone profile every three months in order to monitor his nutrient
levels.
Using this testing as a guideline, he engages in
this extreme form of supplementation in order to maximize his
nutritional intake. In addition to this supplementation, he drinks
ten cups of green tea and ten glasses of alkaline water each day. He
claims that the hormone and nutrient levels in his body are the
equivalent of a man twenty years younger than himself. He urges that
this sort of supplementation should only be done with regular
monitoring, so that an individual can adjust to changing
physiological conditions within the body.
The majority of the supplements and nutrients that
Kurzweil uses will be quite familiar to you, because they are an
essential part of every diet, such as the common minerals and
vitamins. Many others, however, are much more obscure, such as
phosphatidylcholine, which the inventor claims has the ability to
maintain cell membranes and prevent them from aging.
Phosphatidylcholine is a phospholipid which is contained within every
cell membrane of the human body. Studies have shown that this
phospholipid is likely beneficial to the liver, but there is little
evidence for Kurzweils use of the substance.
A Counterargument
Although Kurzweil is incredibly confident in his
endeavour, there are certainly detractors, such as University of
Chicago School of Public Health Professor Jay Olshanksy. Professor
Olshanksy feels that the overuse of supplements is a waste of both
money and time. He feels that for most individuals who utilize this
sort of aggressive supplementation, there is minimal benefit outside
of placebo, and the majority of the supposed nutrients consumed are
simply eliminated during urination and never make their way
effectively to the blood stream.
Three things that everyone agrees on is that
everyone should eat healthy, engage in exercise, and take measures to
alleviate stress. Although there is a lot of evidence which suggests
that methods such as supplementation and caloric restriction can have
a positive effect on life expectancy, it will be a long while before
enough evidence accrues that we know for sure.
How does all this relate to the
Conscious Evolution Institute?
The paths of both Paul McGlothin and his wife, and
Ray Kurzweil converge in many ways in our Hormone Replacement Therapy
Treatment Plan. We do believe in the use of caloric restriction. The
caloric intake of Mr. McGlothin and his wife are right around what we
believe is ideal for both sexes. Although Paul and his wife may be in
good health for their age, to look at them, one can still see that
time is taking its toll upon them. We feel that if they combined
their unique diet with Hormone Supplementation, they would benefit
much more.
We also believe that supplements and proper
nutrition are vital to a healthy body and healthy hormones, as does
Mr. Kurzweil. We believe that Mr. Kurzweil almost certainly
over-utilizes many supplements, however. Just think of the expense of
taking 150 separate supplements simultaneously. He has also been
accused of using many supplements that have been proven ineffective
by the scientific community. We at the Conscious Evolution Institute
are forward thinking and attempt to stay ahead of the curve while
also remaining grounded in legitimate medical science.
Even though we may view Mr. Kurzweil with a tinge
of scepticism, we recognize that in doing so much, he is likely
making many of the correct decisions as well. We do not share the
pessimism of Aging researchers such as Olshansky who are unable to
foresee the amazing changes in Longevity medicine just over the
horizon. By constantly researching new therapies, yet remaining
grounded in a base of traditional medical theory, we are able to pick
and choose the most effective breakthrough anti-aging theories before
they become common techniques.
The Best of Both Worlds
Our form of Longevity Therapy centers on hormone
restoration and optimization rather than full nutrient overload.
There is a very high likelihood that Mr. Kurzweils therapy is
quite successful, but we also believe that he is likely spending a
lot of money on supplements that do not work well, and more money on
others that dont work at all. Ray Kurzweil is a wealthy and wildly
successful inventor, so he has the discretionary income to take
significant chances in order to maximizing his health.
The process at the Conscious Evolution institute
is streamlined, and the majority of the cost comes from the purchase
of Bioidentical Hormone Replacement Therapy, not raiding the local
General Nutrition Center. Human Growth Hormone and Testosterone HRT
have decades of research showing the multitude of benefits of hormone
replacement.
We urge you to take the
theories presented in this article to heart, but take them with a
grain of salt as well. We are certain that if you research the
impressive benefits of Hormone Replacement Therapy, you will be
convinced that it provides the best opportunity to maintain health
and vitality, especially HGH and Testosterone Treatments are combined
with proper nutrition and smart lifestyle choices.
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