

Live Longer: The One Anti-Aging Trick That Works  - zurla
http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20080708/sc_livescience/livelongertheoneantiagingtrickthatworks

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sungam
Caloric restriction is the only non-genetic intervention proven to increase
maximal lifespan in mammals. However it may well be that the magnitude of this
effect in humans is considerably smaller than in lower mammals because the
mechanisms that repair the damage that accumulates as a consequence of normal
metabolism are already more optimal. I think the really interesting area is
caloric restriction mimetics. These are alluded to in the article and are a
class of small molecule compounds that aim to induce the life-extending effect
of CR without the need for reducing calories. GSK recently made a 0.75 billion
dollar investment in Sirtris pharmaceuticals
<http://www.sirtrispharma.com/pipeline-candidates.html> who are developing a
reversatrol derivative so this is far from science fiction.

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pg
I think exercise has also been shown to work.

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gizmo
Not really, as your organs would still have to work to process the extra
calories. The fewer calories you process the less wear and tear in your
organs.

And if you eat a sandwich after running for an hour you're breaking even
calorie-wise, so exercise isn't even so efficient.

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gaius
Not true because a) within reason, using any of the body's systems makes them
_stronger_. That's the _point_ of exercising. And b) effective exercise isn't
about burning calories directly, it's about raising your resting metabolic
rate.

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Alex3917
I've heard it suggested though that the extra calories cause your cells to
divide more frequently, which means you run out of telomeres faster. Not sure
if that's really true or not though.

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edw519
Eat less? You don't live longer; it just _seems_ longer.

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gizmo
Your stomach shrinks when you eat less. You can live comfortably and
energetically from 1800-2000 kcal per day. Less if you sit on a chair all day.

Bonus: you save money.

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drewp
Where are we, on digg.com?! The subject line of this post should have said
"eat less" in it. I shouldn't have to go to the article to get those two
words.

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Harkins
I misparsed the headline to say that the way to avoid looking older is just to
live longer, to have a slower metabolism.

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eru
I even thought of they meant a tautology: Living longer makes you live longer.

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ph0rque
Now if there was only a pill that took hunger away, so that you could eat the
allotted amount and no more...

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icey
Those pills are out there, in varying shades of legality.

Dexatrim comes to mind. (As does any Pseudoephedrine carrying drug)

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ph0rque
Which one is the most legal/safest?

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dgabriel
Probably Sudafed, or any generic version of it. It's one of the few
medications you can safely take while pregnant. That said, the long term
effects of any metabolism boosting substance on the heart, etc., are probably
not great.

The best thing for the less food-disciplined may be to follow the NoS plan (
<http://www.nosdiet.com/> ).

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icey
Sudafed no longer uses pseudoephedrine in its products because it was being
used to synthesize meth. It now uses phenylephrine, which does not have an
appetite suppressing effect.

I only happen to know about pseudoephedrine's appetite suppressing side effect
because of terrible allergies. For years I hated eating, until medications
stopped including it as the active ingredient.

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dgabriel
You can get the "old formula," in most states, but they keep it behind the
counter and you need to hand over your driver's license to be scanned. I only
happen to know that because the phenylephrine doesn't work anywhere near as
well for me when I have a cold.

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icey
Yeah, the phenylephrine is garbage. I just ended up stopping taking anything
and got a prescription for one of those nose sprays.

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ajkirwin
It's not how long you live that matters, it's whether you enjoy life.

I'd rather live to 50 and have a wonderful life, than life to 100 and be less
happy.

~~~
nreece
Live a happy life till 50 Or live a happy life till 100? Which one would you
prefer now?

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steveplace
After reading that article, I'd prefer a hamburger.

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Kilimanjaro
Churchill lived for 90 years fat as a pig and smoking like a crack whore.

I call bullshit and a way to cut food production in half by persuading
everybody to eat less.

Stress kills, food doesn't.

