Initially CR's remarkable effects on longevity are what intrigued me and drew me in, but as I've mentioned before, it's the quality of life it offers that solidified it in my lifestyle.
To fear one's own mortality is to be human, but my Weltanschauung seemingly shifted when I was about 25, thereby making me suddenly, unexpectedly, give nary a damn about living forever or dying that hour by some force beyond my control. Far from being a sign of depressive apathy, it was an enveloping understanding I'd gained about my place in nature, as one quantum unit merely floating on the crest of an undulating millenial wave in a galactic tide of an infinite forever-sea. I feel at peace with life and death in a way that I had imagined contented elderly people gain after having lived their lives, so it was a surprise to me that such a change in perspective is had as a normal part of the evolving consciousness that comes with earlier maturity.
Enough with this Star Trek philosophizing BS; why do I do CR then? I do think it extends the lifespan, and, more importantly, the health span, but it also gives me immediately benefits, like paradoxically, giving me more energy; enhanced mental clarity; reduced joint pain; improved mood; and, of course, the juvenile, vain pleasure of my boss telling me he had an argument with his wife over how old I was--19? Nay! 26!
Huzzah!
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Friday, August 28, 2009
My Foodie Ways
I noticed over the 5+ years of restricting my calories/fasting that the more specific I am about goals for CR, like meeting a definite number of calories per day, the more I overly focus on CR and, paradoxically, I stop finding it easy to do and fail to reach my usual target. Instead, I have a range of calories that I'm comfortable with with no real specific target. If I eat more than my comfortable range though, I mentally calculate the next day about how much I should eat to get the calories to even out (even out to what though? I usually calculate to a 1400 calorie average). The amazing thing about doing it this way is that it's not a mistake, it's an opportunity, because extra lean days seem to have way more health benefits than eating the same number of calories every day than averaging that amount over two days, with one day being as close to fasting as possible. This upregulates several important genetic pathways that make the brain resistant to excitotoxic stress and other toxic damage. It also gives your body a break from glucose and insulin. The only thing I have a problem with is making sure my glucose doesn't go too low; hypoglycemia can cause excitotoxic neuronal death! I haven't been as vigilant as a I should about this. I believe all CRONies should invest in a blood glucose monitor, and that it should even be a higher priority than a food scale.
I love that I used to consider feast-famine days as a way to correct my mistake, when in fact it ended up an even more desirable behavior in terms of health benefits! Sometimes life surprises you with good news.... So now I don't stress about calorie numbers whatsoever. I eat anywhere from 1300-1550 calories a day, though a bit less than that range the day after I eat more than 1450.
Since my CR is flexible, I don't spend much time thinking about food as a result, and I'm not ever disappointed with how a day "went" in terms of food, because it's always an opportunity to do an extra-low calorie day tomorrow, or even a fast.
Probably the only inflexible thing about my culinary life is that I don't eat animal protein if I can help it, a habit that luckily preceded the research showing that the majority of CR's benefit is in restricting that one macronutrient group. For protein, I eat legumes, nuts, and sometimes seeds. I also try to avoid excess vitamin A, copper, and manganese, while maximizing folate and other B vitamins, though I don't obsess over micronutrient intake. I do my best to eat a variety of foods, with an emphasis on veggies, whole grains, and legumes.
I noticed that the more fruit I eat, the hungrier I get and the more sweet stuff I want (most likely due to the effects fructose has on leptin, which can induce a temporary insulin-resistant state), so I try to save the fruit for later in the day when it can't influence all my food choices at other meals. This also has the benefit of minimizing AGEs, or advanced glycation end products, which fructose can induce.
I love that I used to consider feast-famine days as a way to correct my mistake, when in fact it ended up an even more desirable behavior in terms of health benefits! Sometimes life surprises you with good news.... So now I don't stress about calorie numbers whatsoever. I eat anywhere from 1300-1550 calories a day, though a bit less than that range the day after I eat more than 1450.
Since my CR is flexible, I don't spend much time thinking about food as a result, and I'm not ever disappointed with how a day "went" in terms of food, because it's always an opportunity to do an extra-low calorie day tomorrow, or even a fast.
Probably the only inflexible thing about my culinary life is that I don't eat animal protein if I can help it, a habit that luckily preceded the research showing that the majority of CR's benefit is in restricting that one macronutrient group. For protein, I eat legumes, nuts, and sometimes seeds. I also try to avoid excess vitamin A, copper, and manganese, while maximizing folate and other B vitamins, though I don't obsess over micronutrient intake. I do my best to eat a variety of foods, with an emphasis on veggies, whole grains, and legumes.
I noticed that the more fruit I eat, the hungrier I get and the more sweet stuff I want (most likely due to the effects fructose has on leptin, which can induce a temporary insulin-resistant state), so I try to save the fruit for later in the day when it can't influence all my food choices at other meals. This also has the benefit of minimizing AGEs, or advanced glycation end products, which fructose can induce.
Thursday, August 27, 2009
In Defense of Defending CRON
At first I didn't understand why anyone would bother defending CR. I could care less if someone else practiced it, because I am the one who wants the health benefits. It sounds selfish when I think of it this way, but, yes, I care about numero uno and that's about it, lol. In fact, if I was going to care even .0001% about someone else's assessment of it, the juvenile in me would actually feel happy that it's dumb annoying people with poor reasoning skills who won't be around at some point in my long life, even if I have to wait a really long time to realize the benefits, haha.
I had supposed that the people who took it personally when people criticized CR had unsupportive people in their real lives, so their defensiveness was on autopilot. It wouldn't even dawn on me to engage with someone over the benefits of CR. Again, what do I care if someone else does it? It's not like advising people to stop smoking, which can also benefit me so I don't have to breathe it secondhand.
But now I feel differently.
The more CRON is accepted as a mainstream cultural idea, just as going to the gym, jogging, and vegetarianism have slowly come onto the public's radar and gradually been accepted as desirable health behaviors in the 20th century, all individual CRONies stand to benefit from it. No, I'm not just talking about an end to the haranguing about low weight once and for all! I'm talking about improved health research specific to the CR lifestyle. Even when studies aren't addressing CR specifically, wouldn't it be nice if CR status were often controlled as a variable so we knew how certain medications or other interventions affected CRONie subjects? Because of all the effects of CR, including weight loss, lower glucose, lower insulin, reduced body temperature, and upregulating neurotrophins, orexin, etc., as well as changing gene expression to induce a longevity-promoting state, it stands to reason that CR status should be controlled for in ANY study, just as body weight or physical activity level should be (studies will frequently specify whether an intervention was on obese or non-obese mice, for example. The results are NOT always similar.).
And the more people who practice it, the more likely (hopefully) the sexism in the studies can be addressed, although that problem is so pervasive in all medical research in general that I won't hold my breath on that one. But there would be more public criticism that might move researchers to improve the quality of the studies on that front (more on that later--I'll have to dedicate a post just to that subject eventually).
I had supposed that the people who took it personally when people criticized CR had unsupportive people in their real lives, so their defensiveness was on autopilot. It wouldn't even dawn on me to engage with someone over the benefits of CR. Again, what do I care if someone else does it? It's not like advising people to stop smoking, which can also benefit me so I don't have to breathe it secondhand.
But now I feel differently.
The more CRON is accepted as a mainstream cultural idea, just as going to the gym, jogging, and vegetarianism have slowly come onto the public's radar and gradually been accepted as desirable health behaviors in the 20th century, all individual CRONies stand to benefit from it. No, I'm not just talking about an end to the haranguing about low weight once and for all! I'm talking about improved health research specific to the CR lifestyle. Even when studies aren't addressing CR specifically, wouldn't it be nice if CR status were often controlled as a variable so we knew how certain medications or other interventions affected CRONie subjects? Because of all the effects of CR, including weight loss, lower glucose, lower insulin, reduced body temperature, and upregulating neurotrophins, orexin, etc., as well as changing gene expression to induce a longevity-promoting state, it stands to reason that CR status should be controlled for in ANY study, just as body weight or physical activity level should be (studies will frequently specify whether an intervention was on obese or non-obese mice, for example. The results are NOT always similar.).
And the more people who practice it, the more likely (hopefully) the sexism in the studies can be addressed, although that problem is so pervasive in all medical research in general that I won't hold my breath on that one. But there would be more public criticism that might move researchers to improve the quality of the studies on that front (more on that later--I'll have to dedicate a post just to that subject eventually).
Sunday, August 23, 2009
The Happy Crony Speaks
At age 26, I can't believe I have already been practicing CR (calorie restriction) and IF (intermittent fasting) on and off for about 5 years. I got interested in it when I read about its longevity-enhancing effects, but now value it above all else for the quality of life it brings me. I would like to connect with other CRONies to share research info, perhaps one day culminating in a meet-up with local practitioners at a Calorie Restriction Society event (which I still haven't joined! Eek!)
As a lifelong voracious reader, I used to spend WAY too much time on the internet, so to preserve some sense of balance in my life, I no longer have internet access. I won't be a daily poster, but I wouldn't have had daily material anyway.
Your borderless health scientist,
Happy Crony
P.S. I <3 Aubrey De Grey, for his optimism, eccentric intellectually creative problem-solving, for his sing-songy name, and most of all, for his beard.
As a lifelong voracious reader, I used to spend WAY too much time on the internet, so to preserve some sense of balance in my life, I no longer have internet access. I won't be a daily poster, but I wouldn't have had daily material anyway.
Your borderless health scientist,
Happy Crony
P.S. I <3 Aubrey De Grey, for his optimism, eccentric intellectually creative problem-solving, for his sing-songy name, and most of all, for his beard.
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