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ciroccojThis 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]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
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.”
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!
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.”
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Date: 2007-01-02 06:11 pm (UTC)Thanks for sharing!
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Date: 2007-01-03 05:42 am (UTC)