!!

Jan. 1st, 2007 09:33 pm
ciroccoj: (wonder)
[personal profile] ciroccoj
This is so... weird...

I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but my brother-in-law Michael and his partner April practice CR (Caloric Restriction). It's basically a diet in which you restrict the amount of calories you take in to near-starvation levels, in the belief that this will lengthen your lifespan. (Don't look at me funny; despite its seeming illogic, there's plenty of scientific evidence behind that belief.)

Anyway, I know they're both pretty big in the CR movement, but it's something else to see objective proof of that, to wit:

New York Magazine's The Fast Supper: Is a life lived on the edge of starvation worth living? Our hungry reporter gives the ultra-extreme Calorie Restriction Diet a two-month taste test, by Julian Dibbell.

It's so... weird. There they are. In the flesh. April Smith, a 32-year-old Philadelphia union organizer and author of April’s CR Diary, a highly readable and (within the CR community, at least) widely read online journal of her calorie-restricted life; her Canadian boyfriend, Michael Rae, a full-time research assistant to life-extension guru Aubrey de Grey and a prolific, authoritative presence on the CRS mailing list. “Your sense of taste really does become enhanced when you’re hungry for your food,” Michael observes. “You appreciate it more.”. There's even a picture of them. Whoa.

Then there's an article about the above article: Rudd Sound Bites' Starving Yourself for Eternity, by Katherine Stevens.

And then there's April's response to the response article.

This is quite a mind-trip. I mean, a lot of what's in the two articles is stuff the family has been hearing/discussing for years, but it's something else to see it set out in an honest-to-god news article. And to read things like April and Michael's getting-together story in black and white, having heard it from both of them a few years ago. It's also interesting to find out stuff I didn't know - for example (HEY! [livejournal.com profile] tobiascharity!!), that April went to Interlochen.

Anyway. Interesting articles. I did find the tone of the first to be rather creepy, and the second condescending, but they make some interesting observations.

Although I have to disagree with them on the CR-taste thing. I wouldn't want to go on a CR diet, but after tasting a lot of April's cooking this Christmas, I made a point of getting her blog address so I could get some of them off of her. Not bland at all, and I'm not just saying that because April might read this entry ;) Not all of it was to my liking (what a surprise, considering we're different people), but it was all very healthy and usually quite yummy in often very unexpected ways. I'll ask if I can post some of the recipes here so people can judge for themselves.


ETA: Oh, and I had to laugh at some of the descriptions of Michael, particularly his "quiet, clipped, north-of-the-border tone." Hee. North-of-the-border tone. ::snicker::

Oh, and of course:

All eyes now fall on Michael, naturally, and for the first time, I get a good look at his hands. And though I’m sure the light must be playing tricks on me, I can’t help thinking that those hands are actually a vivid shade of...

“I know, isn’t it pretty?” asks April. “I love the orange. I call him the Orange One.”

Date: 2007-01-02 02:56 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] 13oct.livejournal.com
I have heard of CR before. As fascinating as I find it, my reaction is - ha I rather be fat and happy, rather than be scrawny and hungry for 100 plus years. Just out of curiosity, why would one want to live of 100+ years? But then, it just might be me...

CR vs. Fat & "Happy"

Date: 2007-01-02 05:52 pm (UTC)
From: (Anonymous)
1.If you become fat, you will eventually become most unhappy, because once you reach about 60, you will almost certainly develop diabetes, heart trouble, high blood pressure and will suffer contant pain in your knees from carrying around all that extra weight. 2. Most CR practitioners are NOT scrawny! If they're doing it right, they are also not hungry any more frequently than fat people. It may appear that they are "starving themselves" but in fact, they are very careful to eat foods that provide obtaining optimal nutrition! As a result, they are extremely healthy. 3. If you were healthy and NOT suffering from all of the diseases that we presently associate with getting old, why would you NOT want to live to be 100? You'd have more years to have fun: travel, read, party with your friends, enjoy your children & grandkids, etc, etc.

Date: 2007-01-03 05:41 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] ciroccoj.livejournal.com
As fascinating as I find it, my reaction is - ha I rather be fat and happy, rather than be scrawny and hungry for 100 plus years.
Yeah, me too. Although Michael and April say they aren't hungry all the time, and they certainly do eat much healthier than your average North American - which is not a high standard, but still. Mostly I wouldn't really want to spend as much time on my food as seems to be needed to maintain health while doing CR.

Just out of curiosity, why would one want to live of 100+ years?
I think I would... but not enough to do much about it other than the obvious (don't smoke, eat healthy, exercise, etc).

Another thing is that it's not just living longer, it's also living younger, according to many CR folks. It's feeling like you're 40 when you're 80, 50 when you're 100, etc. Which I must say seems like a good thing.

Date: 2007-01-02 06:11 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] mama-rana.livejournal.com
It is so ironic you posted this now: I was just chatting with a friend yesterday about CR. huh. I forwarded the article to him to read.
Thanks for sharing!

Date: 2007-01-03 05:42 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] ciroccoj.livejournal.com
Welcome!

Recipes

Date: 2007-01-03 02:43 am (UTC)
From: (Anonymous)
Hi!!!

So glad you liked the recipes! If there's any food you or the kids particularly like, I can see if I have a recipe for it. I love adapting recipes to make the things that people like healthy.

We had so much fun hanging out with you at Christmas! Hope we can spend more time together in future! And I'll be looking forward to reading your blog on a regular basis.

love, april

Re: Recipes

Date: 2007-01-03 07:17 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] ciroccoj.livejournal.com
If there's any food you or the kids particularly like, I can see if I have a recipe for it.
Well definitely the cranberry sauce and sweet potatoes, though I'm not sure how much the kids liked them - I was too busy enjoying them to notice ;) The omelettes were wonderful, too. And wasn't there something with asparagus in there too?

We had so much fun hanging out with you at Christmas! Hope we can spend more time together in future!
Us too :) :) :)

Date: 2007-01-03 06:03 am (UTC)
ext_41593: (Default)
From: [identity profile] tudorlady.livejournal.com
You know, given the choice of making my entire life revolve around food/eating like that, and throwing the dice on my life span (i.e., continuing as I am), I'll throw the dice and enjoy the occasional burger. I don't understand why someone would put that much effort/energy into accomodating a special diet unless they (already) had specific medical issues proven to be helped by it.

After all, someone with no, or irrelevant, medical issues could follow CR strictly and still get hit by a bus in their 30s. Other than being reasonably sensible about the amount one eats (ask [livejournal.com profile] clearbell, I eat rather little), why bother? There's enough we don't get to do or enjoy as it is.

Orange? Okay, healthy people do NOT turn orange. Sorry.

Date: 2007-01-05 03:03 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] ciroccoj.livejournal.com
You know, given the choice of making my entire life revolve around food/eating like that, and throwing the dice on my life span (i.e., continuing as I am), I'll throw the dice and enjoy the occasional burger.
Yeah, same here. It looks like they enjoy their lives and their food, but I know I definitely wouldn't. I dislike cooking enough as it is; I'd hate having to spend even more time on it than I already do.

After all, someone with no, or irrelevant, medical issues could follow CR strictly and still get hit by a bus in their 30s.
To be fair, though, part of what they want is to feel healthier and younger, no matter their age. So, yeah, maybe they'll be hit by a bus when they're 40 - but they will at least reach 40 with fewer of the minor age-related deteriorations the rest of us have to deal with. Not to mention the less minor deteriorations brought on by age 50, 60, 70, 80...

Orange? Okay, healthy people do NOT turn orange. Sorry.
LOL yeah, well, April likes it, the rest of us are used to it, and the shade does go well with his hair :)

November 2012

S M T W T F S
    123
45 678910
11121314151617
18192021222324
252627282930 

Most Popular Tags

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags
Page generated Jul. 19th, 2025 11:02 pm
Powered by Dreamwidth Studios