How To Slow Aging With Caloric Restriction

Nobody remains unaware of the ever popular diet fact that focuses on losing weight by cutting calories in one’s diet. Caloric restriction usually makes us think about diets that end up making us hungry and deprived. Scientific evidence supports the notion that caloric restriction may lead to anti-aging health benefits aside from basically just losing a few pounds! There are studies conducted that support the slowing of the aging process with caloric restriction.

Fewer calories do not necessarily mean less nutrition. This idea is about making the body eat right. The best way to start this is not by lessening how much is being consumed by the body but by modifying the kind of the foods taken in. Actually, the highest nutrient values can be found in fruits, vegetables, grains, salmon, tuna, trout and beans. They have lesser calories and high nutrient density.

Lessening the consumption of calories has been found to be effective towards longevity. There is also the absence of certain illnesses that are related to aging such as heart disease, hypertension and dementia to name a few. This is proven through modern experiments conducted on primates and mice.

Measurements taken of the regions of the brain that control cognitive ability and memory show that there is far less atrophy of brain tissue in the animals on a restricted calorie diet. The control group were fed healthy foods but allowed to eat as much as they wanted. This group showed all the expected signs of aging including brain atrophy and diseases of aging. Mice and rats which were on a 30% caloric restriction slowed aging by 30%-40%.

A human male takes in a little over 2600 calories a day on average. However, it is quite impossible to specify the amount of calories everyone should consume. This is because of a couple of factors such as body size and metabolism. More so, different individuals engage in various amounts of physical activity on a daily basis. Two different individuals may consume the same amount and type of food but still vary in body weight because of the above-mentioned individual differences.

The key to slow down aging through less calorie intake is first by taking note of the number of calories taken in a day. Take note of this for a whole month to determine your average calorie intake. Lessen the amount of calories consumed by 5 percent on the second month. You should, however, be careful not to be left hungry or starving. The foundation of the whole process lies on the modification of one’s diet. The high calorie foods should be replaced with foods of lower caloric value which are rich in nutrients.

See your doctor and ask him to make a baseline for your cholesterol level, fasting blood sugar level and blood pressure. After that, start reducing your calorie consumption by 5 percent each month. Go to your doctor at the end of each month and have your statistics checked and recorded. The aging process is obviously slowed down if certain improvements can be noticed in the numbers indicated in the observations done. You can continue with the process of decreasing your caloric intake until the changes with your numbers come to a stop. This indicates that you have reached the healthiest level of calorie intake to make sure you are going to live longer and healthier.

A compound called resveratrol, found in red wine and grape skins, has been shown to have the same health and anti-aging benefits of caloric restriction. Studies at the University of Florida have shown that Resveratrol can mimic the effects of caloric restriction, “the hallmark of life extension”. If restricting your calories by 15%-30% seems too hard, why not give Resveratrol, which has similar health benefits, a fair chance? If you desire a longer and healthier life, it is your choice if you want to go for years through the pains of a restricted diet or try Resveratrol!

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