9th June, 2010
The world is spinning fast. Only a few weeks since I decided not to journal for a while, to give myself some space to think things through, and so much already has happenned. So many thoughts, questions, analyses, ponderings, and many other intellectual and empirical trips. So there goes the idea of me having some rest from journaling. :)
One of these, a caloric restriction (CR) diet. When I hear the word restriction, my innate rebel screams. I intensly dislike that concept. Life is for me to enjoy it, right? It does not make sense to me either. Logically, if someone is avoiding eating in the presence of hunger, then yes, this is a restriction, and it can't be a healthy one. No one will ever convince me that ignoring the signals of the body can be healthy. On the other hand, if someone eats according to hunger and their diet is spontaneously low in calories, then this is not a caloric restriction diet. Do I need a PhD to know this, dough? Isn't it obvious? Frequently cited Okinawa, did not practice caloric restriction, and the scientific literature emphasizes this. Their diet was rich in nutrients and spontaneously low in calories. They also lived longer, hence the interest of the scientific community as well as of those pursuing the eternity (well almost).
I like reading. I like browsing through the literature to look for the latest findings that dispel the old myths and uncover the new mysteries, due to my child-like curiosity and the spirit of a scientist. So I went for a little walk to a tea room today and grabbed a copy of the New Scientist, dated 29 May 2010, and there I found the article titled "Eat less, live longer?" by Laura Cassiday, a journalist based in Denver, Colorado. Reading the article was an exciting experience. I knew it, I knew it! - I thought to myself. So here I am, sharing with you, dear Reader, the main points of the article that I think might interest you.
- A number of calorie restriction studies performed on various animals (yeast, worms, fruit flies, mice, rhesus) suggested that moderate CR leads to extended lifespan (in those animals), and that beyond-moderate CR leads to lifespan reduction.
- Since 1990s, some humans started to incorporate so called Calorie Restriction with Optimal Nutrition (CRON) diet. CRONies tend to cut calories by 10-30% (eg a typical daily menu of one female contains less than 1500kcal per day). So far, their body analysis shows favorable symptoms of health.
- However, new research suggests that there is a difference between how humans and other animals respond to CR.
- Specifically, a hormon made by the liver, called insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1), is the promoter of aging. This hormon is lower in animals on CR diet, but not in humans on CR diet, when compared to individuals on an average diet. The levels of IGF-1 depend on the levels of protein in a diet.
- Studies performed on animals suggest that animals fed diets with less amino acids, and as many calories as they want at the same time, still live longer. "These results clearly show that you don't need to restric calories as a whole to get lifespan extension" (Piper, Nature, vol 462, p 1061).
- Notably, although CRONies eat a CR diet, their diet is high in protein, about 1.7g/kg of body weight/day, higher than the recommended 0.8g/kg of body weight/day, and even higher than the average 1.2g/kg of body weight/day in SAD. This could be negating some of the effects of CR.
- "Protein restriction is much less difficult to maintain than
CR and may be more powerful in reducing IGF-1 in humans" (Fontana).
- Vegans have lower levels of IGF-1 than meat eaters (Fontana, Rejuvenation Research, vol 10, p225, 2007).
- Studies performed on animals suggest that cutting the intake of metionine, an aminoacid, leads to lifespan increase to the same degree as CR. Proteins in meat and animal products have high levels of metionine.
- It would be premature to to consider the case proven for the protein theory of lifespan extension. There may be other nutrients that play role, or it may be the ratio of calories to protein that is key.
Well, I think that it is not about calories at all. Calorie intake in my view is a completely secendary outcome. To me the focus should be on the optimum nutrition and lifestyle, in the sense close to that as defined by natural hygiene.
16th June, 2010
I went to a dentist today for cleaning and checkup. I thought I should before my trip to Europe, especially since I have not seen one in 2 years or more. He said I was doing a great job on my brushing, asked what toothpaste I use lol (I use only minerals), and found no cavities in my teeth. I told him that this was not the brushing but the fruit that I eat, and he started talking about how fruit is bad for your teeth, that it is acidic and can dissolve enamel, despite all the evidence to the contrary staring him in the face... :)
18th June, 2010
I would like to share with you a video by someone amazing:
19th June, 2010
I started some fun with numbers this month. From the 6th of this month I've been recording my dietary intakes to see how much I am eating. I have never consistently recorded my calorie intakes before. I do not see the need for me to do it, I am simply interested in some data. So here are the details:
My meals since 6 June
6 June: 4 oranges, 20 golden kiwi
fruit, 4 nori rolls (deliberate experiment to test whether it
dehydrates me, yes it does), 4 lettuce rolls with cauliflower,
cucumber, greens, avocado and dates-tomatoes-orange sauce (making
some recipes for youtube today)7 June: 9 golden, 6 green kiwi fruit, 10 golden kiwi fruit, 4 oranges, 5 dates
8 June: 14 golden kiwi fruit, 12 golden kiwi fruit, 10 golden kiwi fruit
9 June: 4 cups (with pits) cherries, 10 golden kiwi fruit, 5 golden kiwi fruit, 3 green kiwi fruit, 4 oranges, 4 bananas, 4 dates
10 June: 12 golden kiwi fruit, 6 navel oranges, 4 bananas, 4 dates
11 June: 10 golden kiwi fruit, 6 navel oranges, 5 bananas, 11 golden kiwi fruit
12 June: 12 golden kiwi fruit, soup with rolls (making some recipes for youtube today)
13 June: 10 golden kiwi fruit, 10 golden kiwi fruit, 12 mandarines, 5 dates
14 June: 14 golden kiwi fruit, 1kg red globe grapes 3pm, 2 bananas, 6 green lollies (dates wrapped up in Cos lettuce leaves)
15 June: 10 golden kiwi fruit, 6 apples, 3 bananas around, 5 golden kiwi fruit around, 5 green lollies
16 June: 11 golden kiwi fruit, 6 golden kiwi fruit, 250g of red globe grapes, 5 bananas
17 June: 10 golden kiwi fruit, 5 golden kiwi fruit, 4 apples, 250g red globe grapes, 4 bananas, 4 dates
18 June: red globe grapes, red globe grapes (1.5 kg in total today), 2 bananas, 6 dates
19 June: 10 mandarines, 10 mandarines, 4 bananas, 4 oranges, 2 bananas
According to cron-o-meter the estimates for the period 6 June to 19 June are:
Energy 2017.8 kcal ( 106% )
Protein 32.6 g
Carbs 501.8 g
Fiber 64.4 g
Fat 12.4 g
20 June: 11 mandarines, red globe grapes, red globe grapes (1.5kg in total), 15 golden kiwi fruit
21 June: 10 mandarines, 10 mandarines, 4 bananas, 5 pears 5:30pm, salad in the evening (2 tomatoes, 1/3 cucumber, less than 1/2 avocado, aroung 200g of mixed greens)
22 June: 1/2 watermelon (4.5kg with skin), 10 mandarines, 5 bananas, 10 golden kiwi
23 June: 10 mandarines, Qantas Fruit Meal, 10 mandarines, Qantas Fruit Meal, 5 dates, Qantas Fruit Meal, apple
24 June: Qantas Fruit Meal, 2 bananas, fruit smoothie 750lm at Frankfurt airport shop, 5 dates, strawberries 900g
23 June and 24 June were my travelling days. Qantas Fruit Meal is a selection of cut up fruit offerred by Qantas at its flights. See Travel Tips page on the Tips page for the photos. This is what I ordered as my meal for my flight to Europe. Unfortunately, some of the fruit is unripe (and I had to discard it), most of it is acceptable but perhaps a little below the perfect ripeness level. Also, I really prefer mono eating and I found the combination of fruit a little less than comfortable for me. I estimate the caloric value of this meal to be around the value of 2 bananas, based on my level of satiation after it. I certainly would not rely on this meal alone as a source of my food during the flights, even with the additional fruit snacks that Qantas serves during the flight, and so I took my own fruit with me as well (mandarines as my juicy favorites and dates as my hunger fillers).
The caloric value of the fruit smoothie bought at the Frankfurt airport is my own estimate based on my level of satiation felt after drinking one 250ml bottle if it. The writing on the bottle said 230kcal per 100ml but I do not believe that number at all. I needed to drink 3 bottles to feel the level of satiation somewhat similar to my usual meal of around 500-700kcal. Hence the estimate.
Besides the average, it is also worthwhile to mention the range. During the above recorded period, it was between around 1700kcal to 2400kcal per day. I noticed that on some days I eat less, because this feels good, and then the day or two after I eat considerably more, because this feels good.
I realize of course that me recording my calorie intake on daily basis in the above period had a potential of affecting that intake. I am interested in a blind experiment, where I only record quantities, but do not evaluate the caloric intake until after the end of the experiment. Perhaps some other time.
I stopped recording my intakes upon my arrival to Europe. Life is just too busy for that. :) During my stay in Poland so far I had a variety of fruit, including watermelon, peaches, bananas, dates, and most amazing strawberries, I had many kilograms of those. You can buy them by 2kg baskets in Poland, and they are amazingly sweet and tasty. No other strawberries I ever tasted in my life could compare to these.
Apart from fruit, I had some lettuce (mono) as well as salads from various places. Sometimes dressing on those salads was rather gourmet, which is not the way I would usually eat, but I was OK with it as a very rare event. There was a small handful of cooked ingredients in those salads some of those times. Again, this is not what I eat normally, but I did not mind this time.
The interesting observation that I made from these Polish vegie munching sessions was that I indeed am attracted to vegies, more than I used to think, and that perhaps including a little more vegies (minus the gourmet dressing) in my diet more regularly could be a good thing. I could really sense that my body was happily devouring all these vegies. This tells me that I needed them.
So, I made up my mind as far as strict fruitarianism. I know that my body likes greens and vegies, and I am not going to avoid them. Well, I did not avoid them altogether in the past, but based in this recent observation, perhaps I did not eat them as often as my body desires me to. I love the vegies, in fact I adore eating them ha ha! Oh, and fruit is the major component (perhaps at least around 98% in terms of calories) of my diet, the rest are the greens and vegies. Some people define such diet by fruitarian, so I guess it is a matter of what definition one adopts. I do not really care much about such classifications. I am not making any official declarations. I am happy to simply live.