Fed

[clevermanka]

Tonight, mckitterick is substitute teaching for a friend's ENGL 362 class, and as of the weekend, the CSSF summer activities are in full swing. So yesterday was our last quiet evening together for nearly a month. I splurged at the cheese and olive bar at the grocery store to serve a spread of wine, cheese, bread, cherries, strawberries, guava paste and white cheddar--a whole table of yum. It was delicious, and we got to enjoy a bonus of the flash and rumble of a thunderstorm that never quite coalesced. Although it did rain on us when we tried to enjoy the show outside.



In a completely inappropriate coincidence, my copy of Beyond the 120-Year Diet arrived through inter-library loan yesterday. I'm already well into it and it's interesting. I think Walford's trash-talking of other diets is unnecessary, but his examples of experiment after experiment are convincing. If nothing else, I'm intrigued by the examples that show minimized bone-density loss in long-lived mammals on a CRON diet. The experiments that show mammals on a CRON diet are also less susceptible to heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and cataracts (cataracts? WTF) are pretty spiff, too.

I woke up a few minutes after 4:00 a.m. this morning. Yay.

Comments

[nottygypsy.livejournal.com]

We got quite a storm last night. Good stuff. Oh your dress looks great!

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I love this pattern (once I stopped following the pattern directions). Too bad I don't want to make myself a whole wardrobe of just this one dress.

[femfataleatron.livejournal.com]

CRD's are interesting but as far as I know the CRON diet bases it's idea of optimum nutrition on the USRDA. One problem with animal studies is we have no real quantitative comparison between the presumable needs of long lived mammals and humans. Humans can live on a pretty minimal amount or nutritive food, but is there such a thing as an optimal amount? for low level maintenance? for optimal healing? for optimal recovery from exercise? The RDA is hardly an adequate measure for everyone let alone me.

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

I haven't gotten far enough in the book yet where he talks about what he thinks we should be eating.

I'm impressed with his results from feeding the eight scientists (including himself) in Biosphere 2 for the years they were locked in. The fact that they all performed their work/experiments eating minimal calories while maintaining (or improving) health and better-than-previous mental acuity is pretty cool.

If I can do something similar, why not? Eating less, but better, seems to be a win-win situation for me. It's cheaper, and makes less of an environmental impact.

I'm just being argumentative now...

[femfataleatron.livejournal.com]

Maybe their improved functioning was a result of them being removed from environmental toxins. I imagine in the Biosphere there level of physical activity was a bit like light gardening, rather than even an aerobics class..

There is a ton of evidence to support humans survivability, nay even thrivance on almost no food (it's called history). I'm just coming from a standpoint of optimization. Living longer is a kind of optimization, as is exercise adaption, as is learning

I'm all for self-experimentation of almost any kind, but the weak link in their arguments is nutrition, so it's just something to keep an eye out for. Tho, it's not likely you'll be contracting Pellagra any time soon.

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

I'm quite interested in hearing other points of view, so don't feel you need to stop with the arguments. Especially ones that aren't coming from an "Oh, I could never do that! I just loooooove food!" or "But you're already so skinny!" point of view. I mean, please. Seriously?

I'm in pretty good (and realistic) touch with my body. If I feel unhealthy, I start looking for answers. I might not know exactly what's wrong, but I'm pretty quick to realize when there's a problem and I start looking for answers. I learned my lesson about that when I let myself feel like shit for three years because of an undiagnosed hypothyroid condition. I will never again trust a medical diagnosis when it contradicts what my body is saying.

[redheadfae.livejournal.com]

*cataracts*

well, the lens of the eye is made of artfully arranged protein, and if it goes outa whack and "clumps up", you have cataracts.

I'm wondering how one would counteract the tendency of the body to reset to "starvation mode"? Interesting, indeed.

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

Properly done, you never go into starvation mode on a CRON diet because you're never malnourished. You're simply eating fewer calories.

[redheadfae.livejournal.com]

Ah.

I've been a light eater most of my adult life.. maybe for the better?

[normalcyispasse.livejournal.com]

I love that photo.

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

Heee! Thanks! I like the photos of me making funny/expressive faces. I think they look more like me than the ones of me just smiling at the camera.