James Cain

Of course functionality is more important, and these things always take more time than expected. Volunteer time at that. Thanks for the time and effort!

I like the new look. As Matt said, it looks more professional and inviting. I'm not a huge fan of the current color scheme for aesthetics or readability of the menu text, but overall an improvement.

The full-text of the original research paper is here: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-20424-y Beneficial effects of low alcohol exposure, but adverse effects of high alcohol intake on glymphatic function Iben Lundgaard, Wei Wang, Allison Eberhardt, Hanna Sophia Vinitsky, Benjamin Cameron Reeves, Sisi Peng, Nanhong Lou, Rashad Hussain & Maiken Nedergaard Scientific Reports, volume 8, Article number: 2246 (2018) doi:10.1038/s41598-018-20424-y

The side effects cited in that study are valid for obese people with an heart condition, at the end of the 1st week of dieting. Indeed, the data shows a return to baseline when they did the follow-up measurements: Unfortunately they only did measurements at 0, 1, and 8 weeks so there's no way of knowing how long it took for the cardiac fat content to return to normal. I'd guess this is related to the transiently altered nutrient metabolism and lipid trafficking as the body transitions to relying more on fat oxidation. If so, the changes probably normalize by two weeks. I'm also curious how physical activity would influence the outcomes.

While endurance athletes may adapt to a low-carb diet and maintain some moderate-intensity performance, it limits high-intensity performance that relies on carbohydrate metabolism, impair exercise economy, and also impairs endurance adaptations. These may not matter if you only exercise at a low to moderate intensity and don't care about competing. See here for a good explanation and linked studies. Then again, CR isn't exactly compatible with high-level performance. It's also important to keep in mind that achieving a relative calorie deficit through exercise (eating more but exercising more) does not have the same benefits as CR (eating less and exercising less). This is what mccoy was referring to, that some (especially early) CR practitioners sought to maximize CR benefits through exercising less so they could eat less. Of course there is some sweet spot with the trade-off in less severe CR affording enough extra calories to gain the benefits of exercise. Here is a good example of this: There is also this Scientific American article that addresses the topic more generally:

I've often considered if a specific compound would be worthwhile to add on top of my current diet and lifestyle. Imagine a study where you have two groups of people, one group is typical Americans while the other group practices CR (or obesity-avoidance), exercises, ensures good sleep, doesn't abuse alcohol and other drugs, eats a mostly whole-foods plant-based diet with a variety of more general herbs, spices, greens, etc. Provide each group amla (or whatever other ingredient) and see what happens over a period of time. Do you honestly think amla/other would have a meaningful impact considering everything else? There's plenty of research indicating that obesity-avoidance, exercise, and a plant-based diet pretty much maximizes health outcomes already, and that adding something to this doesn't really do much unless it has pharmacological potency and activity. I'd really like to believe in superfoods, but they're only super if they're added alone to an otherwise crappy diet and lifestyle, and even then with limited benefit for many people. I'd love to see evidence to the contrary.

I'll resurrect this thread yet again with two questions I've had since reading this paper some years back. I agree that this is a fantastic study that applies to a lot of our diets here. 1) How would the starch diet have fared if it were zero dietary cholesterol like the vegetable diet. Also, it could be that the dates and raisins were enough to raise triglycerides and LDL cholesterol, and potentially lower HDL, which sugar is known to do. 2) How would a half-starch/half-vegetable diet have fared, especially since this is the most realistic. For fun, here's a somewhat similar study: Metabolism. 1997 May;46(5):530-7. Effect of a diet high in vegetables, fruit, and nuts on serum lipids. Jenkins DJ1, Popovich DG, Kendall CW, Vidgen E, Tariq N, Ransom TP, Wolever TM, Vuksan V, Mehling CC, Boctor DL, Bolognesi C, Huang J, Patten R. Abstract We assessed the effect of a diet high in leafy and green vegetables, fruit, and nuts on serum lipid risk factors for cardiovascular disease. Ten healthy volunteers (seven men and three women aged 33 +/- 4 years [mean +/- SEM]; body mass index, 23 +/- 1 kg/m2) consumed their habitual diet (control diet, 29% +/- 2% fat calories) and a diet consisting largely of leafy and other low-calorie vegetables, fruit, and nuts (vegetable diet, 25% +/- 3% fat calories) for two 2-week periods in a randomized crossover design. After 2 weeks on the vegetable diet, lipid risk factors for cardiovascular disease were significantly reduced by comparison with the control diet (low-density lipoprotein [LDL] cholesterol, 33% +/- 4%, P Sorry I can't figure out how to directly post pics for the life of me (is this even possible?)

I like that they used "low-processed, lower-glycemic foods." The average ad lib diet is around 33-35% fat, so 30% qualified as "low-fat" but hardly qualifies as appropriate to determine effects of changing dietary fat, so this study is really just looking at a roughly normal macro intake of wholesome foods. Studies by Neal Barnard use whole-food plant-based very low-fat (10-15% fat) high-carb diets, often focused on metabolic function and insulin/glucose control. They are vegan, so that could be a confounding variable, but they're about as close as we'll get to what someone here would eat if trying a truly very low-fat diet. PubMed list of many of Barnard's papers.

i know hormone therapy is contentious, but testosterone replacement therapy could prove useful in your situation. Aging and CR both reduce testosterone, and all of these contribute to reduced BMD, and research shows that TRT increases BMD. There are other considerations such as the potential contribution of TRT to prostate and cardiovascular issues, though I'd say that CR would largely protect you from these concerns, and that if low BMD is the limiting factor in your life quality and potentially long-term health, TRT may be the "least bad" option. It's something to consider, anyway.

Hi Dean and others. I got a few messages from Dean about this but have had the fantastic opportunity to travel abroad and am just now having regular (or non-firewalled) access to the Internet. I love the idea of the FoL trip, or really even just a meetup somewhere domestic. I've been to Costa Rica before and it was fantastic. Do pack whatever packaged food you need because options are limited and otherwise quite expensive. Local fruits and veggies are abundant though, and the food options at FoL sound awesome. I'm really not interested in a packaged retreat that costs $2000 for many of the reasons already provided by others. My major limitations are that I teach and have the typical academic breaks, so winter and summer breaks would work best. Even a long weekend isn't very convenient for international travel. James

This week's newly-indexed CR-related research is available on PubMed here. Titles: Feast and Famine: Adipose Tissue Adaptations for Healthy Aging. Chemical activation of a food deprivation signal extends lifespan. DNA Damage: A Main Determinant of Vascular Aging.

This week's newly-indexed CR-related research is available on PubMed here. Titles: Calorie restriction regulates circadian clock gene expression through BMAL1 dependent and independent mechanisms.

This week's newly-indexed CR-related research is available on PubMed here. Titles: Nutritional limitation in early postnatal life and its effect on aging and longevity in rodents. Caloric restriction blocks neuropathology and motor deficits in Machado-Joseph disease mouse models through SIRT1 pathway.

Thanks, Dean. It looks like those same authors published a similar paper a few months earlier, but autopsied brains to assess Alzheimer's pathology vs. testing cognitive tests in the more recent study. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26836731 Association of Seafood Consumption, Brain Mercury Level, and APOE ε4 Status With Brain Neuropathology in Older Adults. I wish they tested the tissue levels of omega-3. Other studies have shown no benefit from omega-3 supplements in ApoE4 carriers, so either there's something unique about fish oil omega-3 bioavailabilty (there is, but I'm not sure it matters based on other evidence) or it's a lifestyle issue or similar confounder. On a lighter note, am I the only one wondering about the accuracy of annual food frequency questionnaires in demented patients? :-) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3518784/ Dietary omega 3 polyunsaturated fatty acids and Alzheimer's disease: interaction with apolipoprotein E genotype This is an excellent review, and the section "4. Putative mechanisms underlying this interaction" explains a lot of why I doubt the results of the most recent study you posted, Dean, at least for a direct effect of omega-3 fatty acids.

This week's newly-indexed CR-related research is available on PubMed here. Titles: Caloric restriction paradoxically increases adiposity in mice with genetically reduced insulin. Comparative idiosyncrasies in life extension by reduced mTOR signalling and its distinctiveness from dietary restriction. Effect of Calorie Restriction on Mood, Quality of Life, Sleep, and Sexual Function in Healthy Nonobese Adults: The CALERIE 2 Randomized Clinical Trial. Dietary Protein, Metabolism, and Aging. New Horizons: Dietary protein, ageing and the Okinawan ratio. The Four Layers of Aging. #6 doesn't focus on CR, but it does mention it a few times. However, it's a pretty good review of the aging process and should be fairly well understood even by those without a heavy science background. It's not free full-text, but Sci-Hub can help with access!