OPTIMAL NUTRITION WITH CALORIE RESTRICTION CAN LEAD TO ANTI-AGING!

Optimal nutrition is essential when working hard to attain optimal wellness. When optimal wellness is the goal, calorie restriction MUST be accompanied by optimal nutrition or you will create a metabolism geared for accelerated-aging, not anti-aging!

Robert Britt, Managing Editor of Live Science, of LiveScience.Com recently wrote and posted an article that has me somewhat scratching my head. The article is entitled “Live Longer: The One Anti-Aging Trick That Works”. The premise, I believe, is correct and it is this: we should expect to live much longer if we RESTRICT OUR CALORIC INTAKE. Unfortunately, all the science behind this article focuses on our reducing our daily caloric intake and gives us no practical advice on how to complete such a noble task. Remember, I am not a fan of diets or basing the state of our health on the Law of Thermodynamics. The truth is that a drastic reduction in calories combined with stressful exercise can cause premature aging, illness, injury and in extreme cases, even death.

Most of us, with honest evaluation, can stand to consume fewer calories, but in doing so we must be mindful of what I call “optimal nutrition”!

Our bodies need food for fuel, for energy, and so each calorie that we consume should contain “optimal nutrition” to provide us with “optimal energy” to get us through the day, to keep us alert at our jobs or in school, and to help build and sustain a healthy immune system to fight off disease.

I would like to refer you to K.D. Craichy’s, “The Four Corners of Optimal Nutrition”. Mr. Craichy discusses the merits of Calorie Restriction, but only, with Optimal Nutrition (CRON); the value of High Antioxidant Levels; foods that are Low-Glycemic; and Healthy Fats, these being the “Four Corners”. Below I have briefly defined each of the four corners so that you might begin to apply them to your life today.

CORNER #1: CALORIE RESTRICTION WITH OPTIMAL OPTIMAL NUTRITION (CRON)

It is all about Quality, not quantity. Consuming less calories but with increasing your nutrient density is one of the fastest ways to increase your lifespan. Also, the chance of having issues with insulin is decreased significantly which will improve your chances of a disease free life. My favorites, though there are others, are dark green vegetables, eggs from pasture-raised hens, organic and grass-fed pasture-raised meat products.

CORNER #2: HIGH ANTI-OXIDANTS

If you have more free-radicals than antioxidants running through your body you can expect to age more quickly and be diseased as well. Over-eating causes all sorts of havoc on the body and leaves you with a free radical surplus. Any stress put upon our body will create an oxidization process that is going to need to be dealt with. The majority of your caloric intake should come from foods that are nutritionally vibrant, which means they are healthy, free of pesticides and hormones and come from nutrient dense soils.

CORNER #3: LOW-GLYCEMIC FOODS

The vegetables you consume should be grown predominately above the ground. When consuming your CRON meals, realize that the fat, protein and fiber will slow down the breakdown of your carbohydrate intake into glucose. Following this principle will also keep your insulin responses balanced with your Glucagon responses which will breed good health.

CORNER #4: HEALTHY FATS

This is the most complicated of the topics, so here is a small recommendation: Do not cook with Vegetable Oils and do not consume Trans Fats (anything with the words; partially hydrogenated or hydrogenated). Keep an organic, but salt-free (possibly cultured), butter on hand, with an extra-virgin olive oil and cook and supplement your diet with a virgin coconut oil, and watch your health improve. Butter (ghee, a clarified butter is even better for high-heat cooking) and coconut oil do not become rancid like the vegetable oils.

Try adding these “Four Corners” to your program while spacing out your meals to four or five throughout the day and see the improvement in how you feel, and begin to look.

Side-note: I do not believe supplements are needed if your diet is optimal. No supplement will ever completely replace a high-quality whole food. Remember, the whole IS greater than the sum of the parts!