[ExI] Paleolithic Diet vs IF vs CR was Re: Getting Old

[The Avantguardian]

----- Original Message -----
> From: Anders Sandberg <anders at aleph.se>
> To: ExI chat list <extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org>
> Cc: 
> Sent: Friday, July 20, 2012 1:38 AM
> Subject: Re: [ExI] Getting Old
> 
> On 19/07/2012 16:15, Kelly Anderson wrote:
>> Ok, this is an ad for Pfizer... so if that offends you move on... but
>> they have some interesting things to say imho...
> 
> They are using the same core argument as I usually do in defending life 
> extnesion: that it gives you a better chance to pursue your life projects. Not 
> bad.
> 
> Of course, we might quibble on how much current lifespan increseas are due to 
> pharma and how much is other things.

True that. If I recall correctly the widespread adoption of underground sewers carefully segregated from drinking water sources caused the biggest jump in life expectancy in history. A close second was the discovery of penicillin. I say discovery because technically a fungus was the party that invented penicillin but unfortunately never filed a patent application.
 
Speaking of getting old I have been experimenting with various dietary modifications based on the assumption that the best diet would be the one that we evolved with for the longest time. I have been having some good success at weight loss using a varient of calorie restriction called intermittent fasting. In the beginning I started simply eating every other day.

Essentially I would fast on nothing but water/black coffee/ unsweetened tea for an entire wake/sleep cyle of ~24 hours and then eat a hearty balanced diet for another wake-sleep cycle. I lost about 10 lbs in the first two weeks and then tapered off to about 1-3 lbs a week. In some ways it is an easier diet to stick to than traditional CR where I was always hungry. With this diet I was only only hungry for half of every 48 hours, so it reduced the temptation to cheat knowing that if I just went to bed hungry, I could eat as much as I wanted when I woke up.

I am also experimenting with variations in the diet such as eating only low-sugar, low starch, high fiber fruits and vegetables like cucumbers, celery, and brocolli etc. without bananas, potatoes, rice, or other high calorie "vegetarian fare" for a 24 hour period and then eating what I wanted for a 24 hour period. I seem to still be losing about 1-2 lbs a week.

This diet feels very natural to me. Much more so than the three meals a day model that people would have you believe is a defining hallmark of civilization. It feels like I am living on foraged vegetables for a day until I can successfully catch some prey. Almost like a diet that is paleolithic in timing, and not just in content. I am thinking that the next permutation should be eating without rythym. i.e. only eating meat / high calorie carbs on days where I achieve a specified coin flip or die roll to simulate hunting and gathering.

The underlying mechanism of this diet is that you don't have to eat a small fixed number of calories every day for CR to work. You can instead achieve the same effect by eating no or very few calories one day and lots of calories the next. So long as the *moving average* over several days meets your calorie restriction target, you still get the benefits.    


Stuart LaForge
 
"Prisons are built with stones of Law. Brothels with the bricks of religion." - William Blake