Life Extension - Eat Less, Live Longer

This came from the latest research by Dr. Anne Brunet and her group at Stanford University.

DR - dietary restriction is the most important environmental factor that can be used to slow down aging. It will not only extend life-span, but it will also extend health-span (years of healthy life).

The best is to eat the minimum amount needed without getting malnutrition. She showed a graph of her data collected on mice - the less they ate, the more years were added to their life - until a certain point, beyond which starvation took over, and life span reduced rapidly.

Reducing food intake by between 40 and 60% had the most effect on human beings. It is not easy to do. But, doing any amount helps. The earlier you do in your life, the better, but advantages can be gained by doing it at any time in life. Consuming the normal amount and then burning most of them does not help in this. You have to consume less.

There is a biological reason for this - has to do with producing less insulin.

There is also an evolution explanation for it -the body slows down its aging until enough food is available, at which point, it does its normal function of reproduction, and then goes through aging.

This is what Indian sages used to say. I have a book from Rajnish that advocates exactly this.