On Wed, 9 Jan 2002, John W. Kulig wrote, responding to a news item that Okinawans live long even if they don't prosper: >
> Okinawa was cited in the article by Pinel, Assanand & Lehman > (2000) Hunger, Eating and Ill Health. American Psychologist. > 55(10) 1105-1116. In this article they cite the fact that > people on Okinawa eat 20 to 38% less calories than > recommended by Japanese Health Authorities. i.e. they not > only fail to overeat - they eat less than you are supposed > to. Perhaps this is mentioned in the Pinel article cited, but it's well established that dietary restriction is the only known way of prolonging life in a variety of species. As I couldn't remember the source of this, I did a PubMed search, and came up with this recent confirmatory review: Van Remmen H, Guo Z, Richardson A. Novartis Found Symp 2001;235:221-30; discussion 230-3 The anti-ageing action of dietary restriction. Over 60 years ago, McCay's laboratory showed that dietary or calorie-restriction dramatically increased the lifespan of rats. Since then, numerous laboratories with a variety of strains of rats and mice have confirmed this initial observation and have shown that reducing calorie intake (without malnutrition) significantly increases both the mean and maximum survival of rodents. Currently, dietary restriction is the only experimental manipulation that has been shown to retard ageing of mammals. Although mechanism whereby dietary restriction retards ageing is currently unknown, much of the emerging data suggest that the calorie-restricted rodents live longer and age more slowly because they are more resistant to stress and have an enhanced ability to protect cells against damaging agents. For those who'd like to try this at home, I also recall that the degree of dietary restriction to achieve this was _severe_. This means that even if it doesn't actually make you live longer, it will sure feel like it. So far, I'm unaware of anyone who has attempted to demonstrate this in humans. Long life seems an insufficient reward for prolonged starvation. -Stephen ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Stephen Black, Ph.D. tel: (819) 822-9600 ext 2470 Department of Psychology fax: (819) 822-9661 Bishop's University e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Lennoxville, QC J1M 1Z7 Canada Department web page at http://www.ubishops.ca/ccc/div/soc/psy Check out TIPS listserv for teachers of psychology at: http://www.frostburg.edu/dept/psyc/southerly/tips/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------ --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
