In 1934, Mary Crowell and Clive McCay of Cornell University discovered that laboratory rats lived much longer if they were raised on a restricted calorie diet where essential micronutrients were maintained.  This observation has been repeated in a number of other species, including mice, yeast, and fruit flies.  Studies have been conducted on primates and humans but, even though positive effects are seen from anti aging diets, it is still not certain that there is a positive effect on longevity.

Based on the experimental work done since 1934, some people have adopted an anti aging diet based on caloric restriction.  Such diets include the Okinawa diet and the CRON-diet.  Central to these diets are high nutrition, low caloric foods, such as leafy greens, fruits, and vegetables.

• The Okinawa diet is based on the diet of the people from the islands of Ryūkyū (Okinawa is the largest island). 
• The CRON-diet (Caloric Restriction with Optimal Nutrition) is based on the work from Biosphere 2 and Roy Walford. 
• There are many other variations of anti aging diets based on caloric restriction, including those based on intermediate fasting. 
  • Variations of this diet include fasting for a day follow by normal eating for a day, or fasting for 20 hours, followed by normal eating for 5. 
  • Yet another variation involves eating about 20% of normal during the fast period. 

Caloric restriction diets generally involve a 10-25% decrease in the recommended caloric intake for your weight and height.  A caloric intake calculator can be found here.  You should decrease the calculated value by 10-25% to determine the restricted caloric intake for each day.

Below are some resources that you can purchase to guide you in your anti aging diet plans. 

The late Dr. Roy L. Walford spent much of his life’s work researching low-calorie diets, and is now recognized as a pioneer of what is widely recognized as caloric restriction; a diet consisting of fewer calories while maintaining adequate nutrition. Dr. Walford presents the results of his studies and clearly describes how the principles of nutrient-rich caloric limitation can be applied to everyday dieting habits. In the latter half of the book, Dr. Walford and his daughter Lisa, a chef and yoga instructor, offer over one hundred delicious recipe ideas that apply to Dr. Walford’s diet plan. LEARN MORE

It is not certain how caloric restriction works to increase longevity, but their are a number of hypotheses:

• Lower caloric intact puts a low level of stress on the organism; this puts it in a defensive state that causes it to live longer ("Mitohormesis" hypothesis)
• Caloric restriction results in lower insulin levels which are believed to result in more robust cellular repair activities and longer life.
• SIRT1, a human longevity gene, is up-regulated (displays increased activity in the cell) by caloric restriction.  By the way, resveratrol has been shown to increase SIRT1 activity.
• Caloric restriction increases DHEA levels primates but not in post pubescent primates.  Nevertheless, some believe that DHEA levels, which decrease upon aging, are increased by caloric restriction and thus are related to longevity.
• Caloric restriction decreases the cellular level of free radicals and protein glycation (the chemical addition of sugar to proteins) and this results in longer life.
• But there are some scientists that believe that there really is not a true increase in longevity by caloric restriction.  They point out that, in most studies, the control animals are allowed to eat without restriction and this artificially decreases their lifespan, making it look like the caloric restriction group lives longer.

Whether or not anti aging diets actually impact longevity in humans, there are a number of documented benefits as detailed below.

• Reduction of body mass index (BMI).  Being a diet, one would expect BMI to decrease.  This is generally seen in the first year of the diet.
• Lower cholesterol and triglycerides.  Caloric restricted diets avoid energy-rich, nutrition-poor foods, including animal fat, and adherence to these diets would be expected to decrease cholesterol for many people.
• Lower fasting glucose and insulin levels.  Refine sugars are avoided in caloric restricted diets and thus fasting glucose and insulin levels decrease.
• Lower blood pressure.  Studies indicate that adherents to caloric restriction diets have blood pressure averaging 100/60, similar to may 10 year-old children.
• Better mental function.  Elderly, slightly over weight individuals on caloric restriction show improvement in cognitive function, believed to be related to lower insulin levels.  Studies in primates show a lessened risk of Alzheimer’s-like changes in their brains.

Negative effects of caloric restriction can be seen if nutrition-rich foods and/or nutritional supplements, vitamins, and other micro-nutrients are not taken while on the diet (see "Vitamin, Supplement, and Micro-Nutrients" posting).  These effects are the same as might be seen from a person suffering from malnutrition.

Given that fewer calories are consumed, the nutritional quality of the foods that you do eat are even more important.  The following food types are recommended to ensure that recommended daily allowances of key nutrients are met.

• nuts:  good source for minerals and provides digestive as well as anti-cancer benefits
• berries: good source for flavonoids, which are antioxidants.
• green leafy vegetables:  good source of vitamins and mineral
• garlic:  good for the heart
• red wine and red vegetables:  good sources of resveratrol

Below are some resources that you can purchase to guide you in your anti aging diet plans.

	The late Dr. Roy L. Walford spent much of his life’s work researching low-calorie diets, and is now recognized as a pioneer of what is widely recognized as caloric restriction; a diet consisting of fewer calories while maintaining adequate nutrition. Dr. Walford presents the results of his studies and clearly describes how the principles of nutrient-rich caloric limitation can be applied to everyday dieting habits. In the latter half of the book, Dr. Walford and his daughter Lisa, a chef and yoga instructor, offer over one hundred delicious recipe ideas that apply to Dr. Walford’s diet plan. LEARN MORE
	Provides a health plan based on the Bible, offering a holistic approach to good health. LEARN MORE