[extropy-chat] cr again

[Robert J. Bradbury]

On Thu, 27 Nov 2003, Spike wrote:

> > Mike Lorrey
> > Subject: Re: [extropy-chat] cr again
> >
> > Did the study specify what kinds of calories are the most
> > beneficial/detrimental????
>
> No, but I might speculate that calories from
> alcohol = bad, calories from sushi = good.

Perhaps not so spike.  This is one of the more hotly debated
topics in all of the CR literature.  With some people making
an argument that you have to restrict calories in the form
of carbohydrates to reduce glucose spikes -- and others
making the argument that you want to reduce the intake
of specific essential amino acids from proteins to force
the cells to recycle their proteins more frequently.  The
third camp says its calories period -- doesn't matter what
type they are.

I suspect there is evidence for all 3 positions.  What is
interesting is that almost all of the studies conducted
to date are using inbred mouse strains (usually C57Black6)
Sometimes Sprague-Dawley rats are used.  But these are
strains where each individual is extremely close to
every other individual from a genetic background standpoint.
So conclusions one might draw from the studies might work
great for one collection of human clones but very poorly
for another set of human clones.  Across average human
populations (which are generally outbred) trying to provide
universal solutions may be a futile exercise until we can
inexpensively genotype individuals and then tie specific
genotypes to specific aspects of metabolism and aging.
This is currently the "holy grail" from the perspective
of molecular medicine and biotechnology its just that
getting there is taking a while.

With respect to alcohol, it depends what type you are talking
about.  Alcohol in general is a low level anti-oxidant.
And of course red wine contains polyphenols, one of which
is resveratrol, which seem to have very powerful antioxidant,
which seem to have heart disease prevention properties causing
what is known as "The French Effect" (the French drink a lot
of red wine and have a relatively low heart disease rate).

Sushi on the other hand is mostly rice.  I'm not sure what the
glycemic index of rice is but if it drives up your blood glucose
levels it could be contributing to crosslinking the proteins
in the walls of your arteries and veins, which in turn could
increase your risk for high blood pressure and therefore stroke.

Robert