[reedlaw]

I doubt that eating less and getting less exercise will really lead to longer life. It would be hard to measure such a thing, but my guess is that with less exercise and eating there would be a corresponding decline in happiness which alone could knock years off a person's life.

[grannyg00se]

Calorie restriction is actually one of the fiew proven longevity tricks. In mice anyway.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calorie_restriction

But I don't subscribe to the "live long an weak" mentality. I believe that your body is healthier and more capable when well nourished and physically strong. I'm 6'2" 190lbs and continually trying to gain muscle mass.

[wildster]

I stay fit by running and playing 5-a-side soccer but I am 5'9 weight 197lbs, I ran 10k in 50 minutes last weekend. BMI is a strange measure if I can be overweight without trying to put on muscle but be fitter than 95% of the population.

[fghh45sdfhr3]

Calorie restriction is actually one of the fiew proven longevity tricks.

Nothing proven about it.

In mice anyway.

Not exactly. The calorie restricted mice do live longer unless they get an infection or some other unexpected source of stress, then they die at much grater rates. It is as if they have no reserves.

In humans calorie restriction is absolutely and utterly unproven.

Humans and mice are very different. They are tiny short lived animals, and we are large long lived animals. That is why a lot of the cancer cures you hear about in mice don't work in humans. Because often we already are born with them. There are known tumor suppressing genes, humans have more copies of them than mice, elephants have even more.

This is why it is not reasonable to assume that simple hacks like calorie restriction, which work in mice... sort of, will also work in humans.

A health diet and exercise on the other hand, have been proven to work in humans.

[continuations]

> I doubt that eating less and getting less exercise will really lead to longer life.

It does. Calorie Restriction is pretty much the only proven way to extend life and slow down the aging process.

[fghh45sdfhr3]

Calorie Restriction is pretty much the only proven way to extend life and slow down the aging process.

The only source for this I've seen so far is the wikipedia page and according to it: There are ongoing studies on whether CR works in primates.

So unless you are a yeast or a fish, it is not proven.

Exercise and a healthy diet on the hand are proven.

[reedlaw]

I should have used the qualifier "alone".