Caloric Equilibrium

[Guest Josh]

It seems that if you restrict your caloric intake, you will eventually either starve to death or reach an equilibrium where the amount of energy you eat and drink is equal to the amount of energy your body uses. But you would reach such an equilibrium if you maintained your body at some other weight. The main difference, it seems, is that the CR practitioner will need a little less energy since his body is maintaining less fat and muscle than it otherwise would.

 

The only other difference I can think of is that there are some people who mildly over-eat but who maintain their weight through adaptive thermogenesis. For such people, CR might make their bodies run a bit cooler. (Of course there are some people who regularly overeat and who get steadily fatter. Obviously CR has a lot of potential to improve such peoples' health.)

 

Are these the only differences? And if so, why would one expect them to make a big difference in life expectancy? Is it that fat and/or muscle have some other negative impact on one's health? Is the main point that you are better off living your life running cool most of the time?