elatedsquirrel

So basically "stopping ageing gives you cancer"?

Interesting article: https://www.uni-bonn.de/news/144-2020

So, the interesting thing from the talk was his claim that they could predict the best diet for you (if I recall, based on DNA and what I'll euphemistically call "microbiome samples"). At least, the best diet as far as blood sugar is concerned.

Interesting TEDx talk that chimes with the "personalized nutrition" issue:

I did read something about fairly recent adaptions to high saturated fats in some Europeans. I'll try to find the reference. (Although I guess KFC is mostly fried in vegetable oil...)

I guess no? But then a lot of medicine is poisonous, just less harmful than the disease it cures.

I was thinking the other day about the diet of the inuit, and also of the higher risk of type 2 diabetes among people of South Asian heritage. I also recall Valter Longo suggests that you should eat what your ancestors ate - or rather "Select ingredients among those discussed in this book that your ancestors would have eaten". (This presents an interesting conundrum for people like me with ancestors from different parts of the world with quite different culinary traditions!) This makes me wonder: Is a healthy diet the same for everyone? Or does it differ based on your individual genetics, epigenetic influences, ancestry, etc.? Might we one day hope for genetic tests that tell you e.g. Bob should eat low carb, but Ben shouldn't etc.?

I read a very interesting article about protein intake in New Scientist recently: https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg24632831-400-you-have-five-appetites-not-one-and-they-are-the-key-to-your-health/ It presents a theory that we have multiple hunger drives for different nutrients (protein, carbs, fat, sodium and calcium), but that the protein drive dominates. The main point of interest is here that the body/brain stops you eating too much protein, because it accelerates ageing. (In a related book, they argue that its the low protein in the Okinawan's diet, combined with high levels of fibre to limit the effect of "protein leverage" [which would otherwise cause overeating], that is responsible for their longevity, rather than calorie restriction per se.) Also of interest are the implications for the obesity crisis.

Well that's good, insofar as those are great ways to spend one's time anyway!

Even on a "moderate" CR diet (e.g. 2000 calories)?

I realise that this question has probably been asked by a thousand CR-curious newbies, but searching mostly turns up stuff about whether hunger hormones are part of the mechanism by which CR might slow ageing. I assume starting CR, even very gradually, leads initially to some degree of increased hunger. Does that accord with your experiences? Does the increased hunger subside eventually, or do successful CR practitioners just learn to live with it? Do the body and mind eventually adjust and "accept" the situation? (I have read interviews with some CR practitioners saying they were "very hungry for the first 5 years" etc., but those people attributed this to cutting calories very quickly.)

Sorry for everything you've been going through, @Clinton. I have been going through some stuff recently (not the same stuff as you - more the realisation, in my early 30s, that I have messed up my health through my own mindlessness and stupidity, and may live a much shorter life than the one I had expected on the basis of my long-lived grandparents, unless I can get my health under control - hence my appearance on this forum). Three things I have found helped me to cope mentally (not to be fully OK, but somewhat better than I might have been otherwise). Meditation (I already did that before, but I started spending more time on it) Reading about the philosophy of the Stoics (especially books and audiobooks by Donald Robertson). One thing I realised from Donald Robertson's book about Marcus Aurelius is just how much more difficult life was for everyone at the time of the stoics. Marcus Aurelius was the emperor of Rome, but he lived to see 9 of his 13 children die. A philosophy that let him meet life with equanimity has to be something powerful in my view. I know it sounds odd that this would be comforting, but just thinking about how insignificant my life is. 50 years or 90 years, it makes no difference on the scale of the universe. Billions of humans have been through everything I have, and worse. Loss and suffering are universal. Human life is absurd, but its nothing personal. (I know this attempt at wisdom from someone who may be quite a bit younger than yourself may come across as stupid, and it probably is. All I can say is that it helps me to think like this.) I don't know if that helps, but I hope so.

Thanks @mccoy.

Thanks @Ron Put

Any tips for getting more fibre? I eat porridge with blackberries and raspberries for breakfast, a substantial salad for lunch, and a lot of steamed veg with most evening meals, but my record so far is 58g.