Saul

Thanks! My wife and I had part of a Japanese cheescake last night to celebrate. 😁

Dear ALL, Today is my 80th birthday. I continue to be in excellent health. Several factors that I think are important for prolonged healthspan and (possibly) lifespan: I've been practicing CR since April, 1996 (so about 23 years). I do vigorous aerobic exercise for half an hour or longer six days a week at my gym (in my case, on the latest Precor elliptical cross trainer with hand motion, at the maximum resistance and a fast speed). I continue to be fully employed at the University of Rochester as a Professor of Mathematics (a position that I've held since 1974): I'm the oldest member of the Math Department. I teach two courses every term (both in the Fall and Spring -- I'm off for the Summers). I enjoy the teaching, and attending seminars and colloquia. Here is a recent health assessment from my Endocrinologist: (Note: The weight is incorrect -- weight was taken after I'd eaten a huge breakfast of 1 pound of raw Nappa cabbage, and 64 ounces of carefully brewed Chinese white tea -- that's always my breakfast): Wittlin, Steven D, MD at 5/7/2019 10:00 AM Status: Signed HPI: Saul Lubkin is a 79 y.o. male who presents for follow up of Osteoporosis. He now takes Forteo. . He denies any pain , fractures, muscle weakness or kidney stones. He continues on low calorie diet. Patient's medications, allergies, past medical, surgical, social and family histories were reviewed and updated as appropriate. ROS: CONSTITUTIONAL: Appetite good, no fevers, night sweats or weight loss HEENT: No double or blurry vision; denies severe headache CV: No chest pain, shortness of breath or peripheral edema RESPIRATORY: No cough, wheezing or dyspnea NEURO: No MS changes, no motor weakness, no sensory changes ENDO: No polyuria or polydipsia PE: BP 110/60 | Pulse 71 | Ht 1.55 m (5' 1.02") | Wt 61.2 kg (135 lb) | BMI 25.49 kg/m² GENERAL APPEARANCE: well developed, well nourished, no acute distress; aware and alert HEENT: PERLA, EOMI, no lid lag, pink conjunctiva ; no proptosis NECK: supple, no thyromegaly, no lymphadenopathy HEART: RRR, normal S1, S2 CHEST: lungs clear to auscultation bilaterally, no spinal tenderness EXTREMITIES: no clubbing, cyanosis, or edema. Pedal pulses 2+ bilaterally. Both feet clean without deformity, callous, ulceration, or fungal infection. NEUROLOGICAL: Alert and oriented x 3. Normal DTRs SKIN: Orange color. ASSESSMENT/PLAN: Forteo. Mr Lubkin will repeat his DXA . He continues to appear hypercarotenemic. Saul and I had a long discussion. As per usual he is on top of recent research in osteoporosis. He wants Forteo, acknowledging that we have no good data on its use for this long, that convention is that he should be using A bisphosphonate, and that he has had a very small decrease in BMD.. RTC one year with DXA

Hi Mike! Sorry that you had the problem -- but it's good that you had the echocardiogram. Hopefully the operation went well? -- Saul

Ha ha. -- Saul

Hi Ron! Thanks for your thoughtful post. -- Saul

Hi Dean! Your diet seems great to me, as usual -- also, as I recall, you eat one meal a day -- probably a good idea. -- Saul

Dear colleagues, This Spring, as always, there was the annual Conference on Aging at UR. The keynote speaker was Matt Kaeberlein, of the University of Washington. I was particularly interested in attending his talk -- Prof. Kaeberlein spoke at one of the previous CR Society Conferences that I had attended. Matt's talk both surprised and interested me. Matt did not discuss Calorie Restriction -- but he did discuss studies involving the use of rapomycin as an anti-aging drug. He made the point that the side-effects of rapomycin that have been identified are minor (rapomycin is often used as a drug with transplant patients to reduce the likelihood of organ rejection, due to a lowering of the immune response). Dr. Kaeberlein pointed out that studies had not been done on healthy humans; he clearly would support that, but of course the FDA would not approve of such a study without extensive animal studies first. As we know, studies on fruit flies and rodents have shown both (average) lifespan and (possibly more important) healthspan increases. Dr. Kaeberlein has received approval for a study on large pet dogs. (Small dogs live on average much longer than large dogs, which have comparatively short lifespans.) Owners of large pet dogs can voluntarily enter the study -- some dogs will receive rapomycin, some a placebo. Since pet dogs are cared for by their owners, the cost of the study is greatly reduced from what a comparable study might cost if the dogs were in cages on site. After the talk, I asked Dr. Kaeberlein if he believed that CRON and taking rapomycin might work together synergystically. He told me that there were overlaps in the effects of both anti-aging procedures, but they were not identical. As to whether they would work well together, he answered truthfully that he had no idea -- he said that it would be impossible to get grant money to support such a study. I asked Dr. Kaeberlein if he still was on CR. He isn't; he said that he never had been. He "likes his food". 😋 -- Saul

Hi Mike! Of course, w6's and w3's are EFAs -- but almost everyone consumes adequate w6's. It's important to get enough w3's, and to have a favorable w3/w6 balance (for most people, the higher this ratio the better). -- Saul

IMO, best to get sed to using no dressing. Alternatively, use a nice pure vinegar -- such as unsweetened, unflavored rice vinegar. == Saul

Nice post. -- Saul

Whenever the science is perfected. (You look a bit on the young side for unproven age reversal experiments --- no matter how good the idea seems.) Wait until age 30 before thinking about it -- and, you might live longer if you just avoid thinking about it, and enjoy life. 😊 -- Saul

Hi Gordo! Interesting study -- if replicated in larger studies (this was a small study), it would indicate that HRV is reduced with coffee consumption. If this is verified, next question: decaf? -- Saul

hi Paula! Clinton's advice is great. -- Saul

Not really. If you build a healthy gut microbiota, by gradually increasing your intake of healthy vegetables it's unlikely. I should note: Prior to going on calorie restriction (over 20 years ago), I was overweight, on a somewhat crappy diet, and developed diverticulitis. It disappeared as my diet improved (it's supposed to be difficult for diverticulitis to disappear -- but an improving veggie diet did it -- with increasing fiber). Concerning McCoy's comment: Again, not surprising. But, if your diet slowly improves, this will probably change. -- Saul

I'd still like to know if whole grains are being compared to refined grains or to no grains. True, the author oƒ this post seems to think that no-grain diets are bad. He talks against ketogenic diets -- I agree with him on that (most ketogenic diets are high protein). But the references he gives, simply discuss the value of whole grain -- in each reference, whole grain is lauded, but we are not told whether that means "compared to refined grains", or "compared to no grains".