front page Washington Post article

[Guest guest]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A64170-2004May3.html

(the link above has the front page photo)

Seeking the Low-Calorie Fountain of Youth

By Rob Stein

As the rest of the nation has been supersizing, a small cadre of Americans

such as Francesca Skelton have been radically downsizing their diets -- not

to slim down their physiques but to slow down the hands of time.

Skelton is an adherent to the theory that " caloric restriction " can hold

back the aging process by fundamentally altering basic metabolic functions

in ways that protect the body from decaying as quickly.

So for years, the District grandmother and others like her have been eating

often radical diets carefully calibrated to slash calories they consume each

day while still providing their bodies with the nutrients they need.

It is an idea that, while unproven, has been steadily gaining scientific

support for more than a decade, including a new study two weeks ago that for

the first time found that people such as Skelton were enjoying benefits

that should protect them from heart disease and possibly other leading

causes of death. The evidence is so promising that the National Institutes

of Health has launched a project in three U.S. cities to test how practical

it is to get people to sharply restrict calories, and to study what it does

to their bodies.

Meanwhile, however, people such as Skelton, mostly scattered across North

America and Western Europe, have decided that the theory makes so much sense

that they are going far beyond any typical diet and making drastic changes

in their lifestyles for years or even decades in the hopes of living longer,

more youthful lives.

" It just follows logically that you're going to live longer if you age

slower, " says Skelton, 64, a retired federal employee who lives in Northwest

Washington. " I'm aiming for at least 100 or more. "

Enough seekers of a dietary fountain of youth have joined what could be

considered the ultimate diet craze to create an international online

organization. The Calorie Restriction Society claims a membership of more

than 1,600 people, organizes annual meetings for devotees and runs a Web

site (www.calorierestriction.org) where members exchange advice, menus and

recipes, and debate the latest scientific evidence for the theory.

Many practitioners follow extreme, spartan diets of nothing but fruit,

vegetables, nuts, berries and grains. They painstakingly calculate the

caloric and nutritional content of every morsel that passes their lips,

weighing each ingredient and entering the results into computer programs

that meticulously track calories and nutrients. Often they eat the same

meals, day in and day out. Some lose so much weight their libidos disappear

and they have to remember to carry a sweater to stay warm in air-conditioned

buildings and pillows to cushion their bony behinds.

Others practice less regimented versions. They still eat what most people

would consider exceedingly sparingly, but are far less rigid. Some simply

consume much smaller portions of what they always ate. Others live on a

healthful mix of vegetables, fruit, meat, fish and poultry, but occasionally

splurge on a good steak or piece of chocolate. There are enough people like

that, in fact, that Skelton started a break-off faction, the CR Support

Group (health./group/ /), for those seeking a

less stringent approach.

" We are much more moderate. We aim to show that this could be achieved by

anyone -- you don't have to be drastic about it, " said Skelton, who claims a

membership of about 850, including many in the Washington area. " We're not

extremists. We don't starve ourselves. We try to show people that this is

easily done. "

Skelton subsists on 1,200 to 1,600 calories a day, down from about 2,200

before she started four years ago. Like most adherents, she eats primarily

fruit, vegetables and nuts. But she does mix in regular servings of fish and

chicken, and will occasionally sneak a piece of cake.

" I enjoy eating. So you'd think it would be hard for me. But it's not. You

learn to enjoy the food that's good for you. You just have to get a

mind-set, " she said.

The 5-foot-4 Skelton dropped about 20 pounds after she started the diet,

and now weighs a slight 115.

" I have the figure and the body of a woman at least 25 years younger, and

feel that way, " said Skelton, who says she is in a " mixed marriage " because

her husband is not a practitioner.

" He loves to eat. He raids the refrigerator in the middle of the night, "

she said.

Some practitioners call themselves " CRONies " -- for calorie restriction

optimal nutrition. Others eschew the nickname because they think it has

negative connotations. Some are health fanatics -- they run marathons, use

herbal remedies and embrace a host of alternative, New Age lifestyles. But

many others are couch potatoes who do nothing more than eat very little. The

theory is based on the idea that caloric restriction's benefits are

independent of the need to exercise or do anything else.

All were inspired by Roy L. Walford, a UCLA scientist who wrote a series of

books that included " Beyond the 120-year Diet " and " The Anti-Aging Plan. "

In 1991, Walford became one of eight volunteers who sealed themselves inside

a controversial laboratory in the Arizona desert called Biosphere 2 to see

whether they could create a self-sustaining ecosystem. They quickly ran

into trouble, including a severe food shortage, which inadvertently tested

the nascent theory on humans for the first time. According to a variety of

measures, their health improved.

Ironically, Walford died last week, two months short of his 80th birthday.

He had suffered for many years from Lou Gehrig's disease, an incurable

neurological condition that is apparently resistant to any benefits of

caloric restriction.

Walford's death did nothing to deter followers such as Skelton. They are

motivated by the desire to have lives that, if not necessarily longer, are

healthier, avoiding the slow, inexorable slide from aches and pains to

infirmity and chronic, disabling illness.

" Hopefully, it will work and help us add years to our lives. But what I

really want is to live a full life without chronic illness. I would like to

avoid the decline that accompanies old age, " Skelton said. " Many of us are

doing it for quality of life, rather than length. "

Before of Vienna started the diet three years ago, she felt

the beginnings of the typical middle-aged decline.

" I had a lot of aches and pains. I had no energy. I was having stomach

problems, " said , 50, a manager at Mitretek Systems Inc. in Fairfax

County.

She now consumes about 1,100 calories a day, down from about 1,800 before

she started.

" Some people who do this diet are compulsive. I'm not one of those people

who eat the same meal over and over again. For me. it makes it more

interesting to eat a variety, " she said. " I know that I'm not going to blow

up or die if I eat a small piece of chocolate cake. "

Like many adherents, said that after an initial, difficult

adjustment period, her appetite seems to have dwindled. Many say they do not

experience the overwhelming food cravings they did before. When they do eat,

everything tastes better. And now, said, her health problems have

disappeared.

" I feel much younger than I did when I was 45. I feel like a 30-year-old, "

she said. " I feel like this is going to let me use up less of my life every

year. I'm really going to age slowly. It's not just living longer. I feel

like I'm going to live younger. If I feel 30 at 50, then I expect when I'm

60, I won't feel that age either. "

Although scientists say the theory remains far from proven, that may not be

just wishful thinking. As portion sizes have ballooned and obesity has

become epidemic in the United States and other industrialized nations, more

and more evidence has accumulated to support the theory, including numerous

studies showing that laboratory mice, rats and other organisms live

significantly longer if their food intake is restricted. Ongoing studies

with monkeys, human's closest relatives, are producing equally promising

findings.

Evidence suggests the benefits can start to accrue even in middle age, and

even if daily intake is cut by 500 to 800 calories a day.

Scientists think caloric restriction may work by reducing the body's

production of harmful molecules known as free radicals. Another theory is

that it creates a chronic state of mild stress that actually protects the

body, just as stretching the mind may ward off Alzheimer's disease and

taxing muscles with exercise makes them stronger.

" There are types of stress that are mild stress that are beneficial, " said

Mark P. Mattson of the National Institute on Aging, who studies caloric

restriction and practices it himself. " Cells respond to mild stress by

activating genes that help them resist more severe stress. "

Devotees tend to be intelligent, highly educated people who have a

sophisticated understanding of nutrition, which is important to avoid

becoming malnourished, said Luigi Fontana, who studies people on caloric

restriction at Washington University in St. Louis.

" Most of them are professors at universities or running companies. They are

very successful people. They know a lot about nutrition and the scientific

literature regarding calorie restriction, " Fontana said. " They love life and

want to live longer. "

The highest concentration of adherents is, not surprisingly, in Southern

California, but believers are scattered across the United States, Canada and

Western Europe, said M. Delaney, president of the Calorie Restriction

Society. Surprisingly, younger people tend to get involved because they

hope to live longer.

" Those are the people who might be willing to go to more extremes to wring

another three or four decades out of life, " said Delaney, who teaches

philosophy in Stockholm.

That is what motivates Khurram Hashmi, 36, of Los Angeles, who has been

practicing severe caloric restriction for about four years. Hashmi slashed

his daily intake from about 3,500 calories a day to about 1,800. The

six-foot computer programmer dropped from about 170 pounds to about 116.

" Life is not that long, " Hashmi said. " This is the fountain of youth if

there ever was one. "

But Delaney acknowledges that it is not for everyone. After trying it,

some people decide they simply would rather not live such austere,

disciplined lives.

" A lot of people in our group went off the diet entirely, " he said. " They

decided they wanted to live like Hemingway -- eat a lot, drink a lot, live

large. "