"The Good, The Bad, and The Hungry"

Did you see the article in the Star Tribune this morning that alerted us to the discovery of a new fountain of youth?   According to research published in the journal Science, there is conclusive evidence that if primates cut 1/3 of their daily caloric intake, we can severely slow the aging process and live longer and healthier lives.  This research is based upon a 20-year study conducted on rhesus monkeys living at the Wisconsin National Primate Center which is located in Madison. (Many Minnesotans would question why anyone would want to live a longer life while stuck in Wisconsin but that’s another story.)

According to Dr. David Finkelstein of the National Institute on Aging, this report is of major significance to humans since many scientists now believe that severe caloric restrictions seem to track alongside developing fewer diseases.  Developing fewer diseases is probably something all Americans could agree upon.   We live in a country where some estimate that nearly two-thirds of all adults are overweight. And with most of the discussion in Washington focusing on improving our health and healthcare delivery systems, it seems appropriate that we discuss personal responsibility for one’s health.

Two years ago, I decided to live a healthier life. This new and improved lifestyle included a healthy but restricted diet, daily exercise and strength training with a sports trainer twice each week.  I saw immediate and positive results.  Eventually, I began a running regime.  (Yes, I took up running at age 45 while many of my seasoned running friends were forced, due to injury, to give it up.  Thank goodness my decades of couch sitting preserved my knees.) After completing two 5-K races (don’t worry -- I didn’t set any land speed records,) I regrettably fell back into many of my bad habits.

And so once again I am doing interval training to get into running mode and working to eliminate all of the bad foods that slowly crept back into my diet.  Twice each week my trainer forces me to sweat loudly as I try to un-do my bad and unhealthy habits.   I realize I have no one to blame but myself for my lack of stamina and physical fitness.  But I keep my eye on the real goal --   to live a healthy and happy life.  And that means I must exercise every day but even while I continue to indulge in creamy risotto and decadent chocolate cake “on rare occasions”. (That last clause is in there in case Beth my trainer reads this.)

Could I live to be 100 if I ate like a Wisconsin monkey?  We don’t know  because, according to Dr. David Katz, who wins an award for stating the obvious to anyone who has ever tried to diet: “It’s hard to find people willing to stay on a  strict diet for the decades needed to prove whether or not they live longer than people who don’t follow the diet.”

A severe caloric reduction study was conducted years ago on mice.  While the physical results of the mice were similar to those found in the monkeys, there was one distinct difference:  attitude.  “When UCLA Evolutionary Biologist Jay Phelan put mice on caloric restrictions, he got the distinct impression that they didn’t appreciate it.  They bit people and were more agitated,’ he said. In contrast, the mice who ate a normal diet ‘would just sit around and let you pick them up.’”

And so that’s where we find ourselves during the summer of 2009.  We probably know the secret to living longer and healthier lives.  But there’s no guarantee that existing on 900 calories per day is going to make every day you add to your life worth living. 

So, tomorrow morning I’ll resume my interval training.  It’s never pretty, I don’t really enjoy it but I keep trudging along, telling myself that it’s the right thing to do.  And I will console myself each time I decide to quit running by remembering that at the very least, I haven’t bit anyone.  Yet.