CR 4 Life

Meal Frequencies II

2009-08-03T12:54:00.002+02:00

An interesting thing happened last week. I usually bring some fruit and nuts for lunch when I go to work at the student union, but one day I forgot to do that. And I noticed that I actually got less hungry in the afternoon when I didn't eat lunch at all compared to when I had the fruits and nuts. Perhaps two meals per day really is the way to go for me.

Hello again

2009-07-25T11:33:00.002+02:00

Hi everyone. I just wanted to say that I'm not dead - I've just been busy. I've recently been elected president of the Student Union of Science here at Lund University, and there's a lot to do and to learn. I'm still practicing CRON, and I'm still healthy and doing well.

CR works in primates!

2009-07-09T23:08:00.004+02:00

CR has previously been demonstrated to work in a variety of organisms, from roundworms to mice, and now it seems to be working in rhesus monkeys as well! According to a study that is to be released soon, CR drastically lowered mortality, age-related diseases, and decline of muscle and brain tissue. In their late twenties (the average lifespan of rhesus monkeys is 27), 63% of CR:ed animals are still alive, compared to 45% of animals in the control group, and the CR monkeys look a lot healthier than their non-CR:ed counterparts. See the below picture, for instance:

Here's another article about it.

This is the most solid suggestion yet that CR could work in humans in a similar way. And yet some say that this study could have been done better; scientist and CR expert Michael Rae said this: "[...] the actual differnce in Calorie intake has dwindled down to almost zero, because none of the animals are very engaged with their rather monotonous and restricted lives, so the AL eaters aren't finishing their meals a lot of the time; the food isn't the best, nutritionally, and there were definitely some specific nutritional problems (such as excessive retinol, early on) in the diets; we don't really know how how to best care for and feed nonhuman primates, nor how long they can live in captivity, because so few have been studied; and above all, there's evidence that the AL group probably should've been restricted a bit more and the CRed animals restricted even further in turn (no effects on menstruation in the females, and probably some of the AL diabetes is related to modest overweight)."

Despite that, CR seems to be working very well for the monkeys. One might only guess how well it could work in CR:ed humans, who take care to get optimal nutrition and otherwise eat as healthy as possible, while maintaining a low calorie intake. This has reinforced my belief that CR works in humans as well as in other organisms.

Meal Frequency

2009-07-09T18:23:00.002+02:00

How many meals should I eat per day? I've been thinking about that for some time now, and though I've been eating three meals per day for a long time now, I'm considering going down to 2, mainly because it's so much easier - then I just have to eat once in the morning and once in the evening, and I can avoid all the hassle of bringing a lunch box to school/work or having to go home during the lunch break to cook. Of course, the two meals would be correspondingly larger than before, so that I maintain my daily calorie intake. The question is: Will I be able to stay satiated all through the day on breakfast?

How does your day look like in terms of meals? How many meals do you eat per day, and what has led you to that? Please share your thoughts.

Link Collection #1

2009-06-25T14:25:00.000+02:00

Here's something I was inspired to do by a blog post at Free the Animal, a blog that I follow. It works like this: every time I find a link to something interesting, I'll paste it in a blog post draft (with a short commentary), and when I get enough links (I'll try four for now) or more links, I'll publish the post and begin a new draft. I guess the link to the FtA post counts as the first link, so three more will follow. (I guess you could call this a modified version of the blogroll, since it can also contain non-blog links.)

Even though it's largely unrelated to CR, I found this post at the Hunter-Gathering blog very interesting. The blog's author is building a full-scale treehouse that he plans to live in for six months, subsisting entirely on the foods nature has to offer and things he can sow and manage himself in a small patch. I wouldn't try it myself at the moment, but it certainly seems like a fun challenge. I wonder how he'll manage showering and things like that? I think his house is near a river, so I guess he'll use that.

I also found a nice podcast on the role of dietary fat and how it relates to cholesterol, among other things. It may be a bit biased towards low-carb diets, but I found it interesting nevertheless.

Lastly, Mark Sisson (of Mark's Daily Apple) thinks we should all go out and play a bit more. I entirely agree! Anytime when you don't have anything else to do is a good time to spontaneously go do something fun. And the warm summer weather isn't exactly making it more difficult :)

That's all for now. Sorry I haven't posted in a while, by the way, but I've been busy and travelling and stuff.

Bad Science?

2009-06-08T19:12:00.003+02:00

I came across an interesting (but not very useful, as you will see) study through the CR Society archives a few days ago:

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Shiraev T, Chen H, Morris MJ. Differential effects of restricted versus unlimited high-fat feeding in rats on fat mass, plasma hormones and appetite regulators. J Neuroendocrinol. 2009 Apr 13.

Abstract: The rapid rise in obesity has been linked to altered food consumption patterns. There is increasing evidence that in addition to total energy intake, the macronutrient composition of the diet, may influence the development of obesity. Objective: To examine the impact of high dietary fat content, under both isocaloric and hypercaloric conditions compared with a low fat diet, on adiposity, glucose and lipid metabolism, and brain appetite regulators in rats. Method: Male Sprague-Dawley rats were exposed to one of three diets: control (14% fat), ad libitum high-fat palatable (HFD, 35% fat), or high-fat palatable restricted (HFD-R, matched to the energy intake of control) and were killed in the fasting state 11 weeks later. Results: Body weight was increased by 28% in unrestricted HFD fed rats, with nearly a tripling of caloric intake and fat mass... (read the whole abstract here).

-------------------------------------------------------------------

On first glance, this study might appear to support the idea that a low-fat diet is good for preventing heart disease, but let's look a bit closer. If you read the whole paper (available at the link to the archives), you'll notice that the "high-fat palatable diet" mentioned in the abstract is further described as a "cafeteria-style diet", consisting of "meat pies, cakes, biscuits, chips [...] ad libitum". This was compared with the control diet of standard laboratory rat chow.

I mean, come on! Anyone eating that kind of diet is bound to end up with serious health problems, so it's no surprise that the rats did just that. The diet, if you can call it that, consisted exclusively of pies, cakes, biscuits and chips, all of which are high in simple sugars, starches, saturated fats, and (most prominently) trans fats, as well as very low in nutrition. It's far worse than even the standard American diet (SAD). Yet the researchers blame only the increased proportion of total fat in the diet (35% vs. 14% in the control diet) for the effects! I think you see what I mean now. I don't think this study actually tells us anything about the role of dietary fat in health, since there were so many other factors which could have (and most probably did) influence the outcome of the study, all of which were likely more important than total fat content.

Perhaps a more appropriate title would have been, as Michael Rae suggested in the archives: "Total crap, junk-food diet, far worse even than SAD, really buggers up sedentary rats." That's really all that this study shows. I wish they had put the rats on a healthy, nutritious high-fat diet instead, with a reasonable amount of protein, and compared that with a healthy, nutritious low-fat diet. Then we would have learned a lot more.

Calcium

2009-05-31T09:09:00.003+02:00

How much calcium do we really need? That's a question I've been pondering for some time now. We're always told that calcium is important for building strong bones, and that dairy is the main source of dietary calcium. But the fact is, most people on the planet don't consume dairy products at all, and they get along just fine. In fact, even though the U.S. is among the countries with the highest calcium intake, it also has some of the highest rates of osteoporosis. So it turns out that other things besides calcium may be just as important for bone health.

One of those things is vitamin D. Low blood levels of vitamin D has been linked to osteoporosis (low bone density), probably because vitamin D influences the metabolism of important minerals such as calcium and phosphorus. Speaking of which, phosphorus is probably important for bone health too, since 85% of the phosphorus in your body is bound to the skeleton. Other minerals, such as magnesium, zinc and iron, may also play a role in bone health [1].

Additionally, there is something called the "acid-base balance", or in other words, the pH level in the body. The theory is that certain foods (e.g. dairy) are "acidic" in that they lower the body's pH level (particularly pH of the blood), while others (e.g. fruits and vegetables) are "alkaline", doing the opposite. This relates to bone health in the sense that a low pH leeches calcium from the skeleton, making it more brittle, while a higher pH leads to better binding of calcium to the bones. Interestingly, according to this theory, dairy products are some of the most acidic foods around, so even though they are promoted for having a lot of calcium, it might not be as well absorbed as we think.

Nice news article on CR

2009-05-23T00:40:00.003+02:00

About a month ago, there was a really good (or so I thought) article on CR in the April 24th issue of Star Telegram. Many other CR articles I've read make it (CR) sound like a quick fix or a fad diet when in reality, it's neither of those - it's more of a lifestyle. This article is also the first I've seen that focuses on two very important aspects of CR: starting out slowly, and monitoring nutrition using software. Every other article seems to miss these things.

Oh, and I might not be able to post as often as I'd like for the next year, since I've been elected president of the Lund Student Union of Natural Science. It's a full-time (paid) job, so I'll be pausing my studies for a whole year to work with this. After that, though, I will continue studying molecular biology as before.

Video on CR primate study

2009-05-17T14:09:00.002+02:00

For the past 20 years, there has been an ongoing research project on CR in rhesus monkeys. This has important implications for human CR practicioners, since monkeys and humans are genetically pretty similar (at least compared to rats, which are the animals most commonly used in this kind of research). Now, there's a video summarizing the results that the rhesus monkey project has given so far, and I think it's very promising. Basically, the CR monkeys show similar changes to other species put on CR, reinforcing the belief that CR works across the whole spectrum of species.

See the video here.

In Times of Plenty...

2009-05-13T00:06:00.003+02:00

After having been on a five-day conference with the majority of student unions in Sweden, I have again noticed that I tend to eat more than usual when I'm away from home, since more food is available (for free, too). This makes a certain amount of evolutionary sense - it would be beneficial for hunter-gatherers to eat all they can when they come across food. However, this is not optimal for 21st century people like me, since food is always available in excess. Therefore, a certain amount of self-control is required to limit food consumption, and when I'm at home, that's not a problem. This could also be influenced by the fact that I pay for my food myself (being a student, I'm on a rather strict budget). However, when I go on conferences and other trips where I don't have to pay for the food I eat, budget concerns are not an issue anymore. I need to work harder on keeping to my calorie limits and ensure good nutrition (at least try to, since I can't choose every food I eat) on occasions like these. Do you have any specific strategies to do this? Please share.

Blog Roll

2009-05-05T21:12:00.002+02:00

Taking inspiration from other bloggers that have done the same, I decided to highlight some good and informative posts from some of the blogs I follow.

Over at CRON Diary, Mary wrote a comment on a Washington Post article on why certain foods are so hard to resist for many people. Apparently, certain combinations of foods - particularly the combination of fat, salt, and sugar, according to the article - trigger a release of dopamine in the brain, which stimulates the pleasure center and makes us want more of those foods. This might be something to keep in mind when preparing meals - avoiding combining sweet, fatty and salty foods might make it easier to resist overeating.

Matthew Lake has been growing his own plants and vegetables in a garden he created some time ago, and although he hasn't got any food from his garden yet, it's showing promising results. Growing your own food can be a good way to avoid all of the detriments associated with commercial food, such as processing and pesticides. And it could be cheaper as well, provided you can grow enough food to sustain yourself.

Finally, Mark Sisson (creator of Mark's Daily Apple) wrote a very informative post on calcium, and why we might not need as much of it when we're eating a good, healthy diet. Apparently, the acid-base balance of the diet influences the absorption of calcium: acidic foods decrease absorption, while alkaline foods increase it. Interestingly, dairy foods are generally acidic, so despite the fact that they contain a lot of calcium, it might not be very well absorbed. On the other hand, most fruits and vegetables are alkaline, so when you're eating a lot of them, calcium is absorbed better, especially if those foods contain a lot of calcium like kale and spinach. Also, vitamin D positively influences bone density, so if you spend some quality time in the sun and/or supplement with vitamin D, you might not need as much calcium as otherwise.

That's all for now - there are many other good blog posts out there, but these are the ones I've found particularly interesting and/or useful.

The Results of Fasting

2009-04-29T08:21:00.000+02:00

After trying out fasting two days ago, I have to say that it was an interesting experience. I felt just fine until about 3-4 PM or so, after which I started to feel sort of weak - not particularly hungry, though. Breakfast yesterday was very good. :) Also, I seem to have lost 4.5 lbs in the process, although I suspect that some of that will come back on again. I was a bit surprised by that, and I don't want to lose any more, so it was about time I broke my fast when I did.

Fasting

2009-04-27T12:36:00.002+02:00

I've decided to try fasting for a whole day, just to know how it feels. Since my first meal of the day is ~8 AM and my last is ~6 PM, I already "fast" every day while I sleep, but I thought I'd try from 6 PM one day to 8 AM two days later (that's 38 hours), and only drinking water, and see how it goes. Currently, I'm about 18 hours into the fast, and I feel just fine - a little bit hungry, but not significantly so. It sort of gives a new perspective on hunger as well, and might make it easier to resist those food cravings that many of us sometimes get. I wouldn't recommend fasting for longer than a day or so, though, since it seems from available evidence that the body starts to break down proteins (i.e. muscle) instead of fat if you go longer than that. I'm a bit sceptical about all those "detox" claims of fasting, but it's still an interesting experience.

Update about lack of updates

2009-04-20T23:30:00.003+02:00

Hi, and sorry that I've not been able to write much lately. Mostly, it's because a) I've been busy with school, and b) that I haven't found anything else in particular that I wanted to write about so far. Life is good around here. I've increased my fat intake a bit now, to about 45-50%. I've also started eating organic filmjölk (sort of like plain yogurt), since it's a good source of calcium, among other things. To get enough calcium without dairy, I would have to consume quite a large amount of stuff like kale - which I did for a while, but that got very expensive and wasn't as tasty. I seem to be able to tolerate the small amounts of lactose in filmjölk - most of what was originally there (in milk) has been converted to lactic acid in the fermentation process. I eat it with grated carrots, dried coconut (grated), and some cinnamon. It's pretty good - tastes a bit like carrot cake, but without all that sugar and flour and stuff.

Dietary Cholesterol and Health

2009-04-14T13:14:00.008+02:00

Cholesterol is something I've been wondering about for some time now. The standard message from government health boards is that too much dietary cholesterol (DC) raises blood cholesterol (BC), and subsequently the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD), and thus should be avoided. However, the issue appears to be disputed. This is supported by a number of studies, e.g. [1] and [2]. On the other hand, another study found that, in a low-carb diet, more DC doesn't necessarily elevate BC [3]. The reason for this is that the body has mechanisms for maintaining adequate cholesterol levels regardless of dietary intake - the liver makes more cholesterol if less is supplied by diet. However, the second study doesn't say anything about the health status of their subjects, and since CR practicioner Michael Rae argues that DC raises BC more in lean, healthy people than in obese people, this could be a confounding factor.

Other studies have challenged the view that DC raises BC [4,5], and propose that cholesterol-maintaining mechanisms vary greatly between individuals. Another possibility could be that carbs (especially refined ones, I would guess), or some other aspect of the Western diet, might have some kind of effect on the liver or on the cholesterol receptors of the cells, which could prevent signals to the liver to stop making new cholesterol, or make the cells less efficient in BC uptake, and this could lead to higher BC levels. This is just speculation on my part, though, and no studies that I'm aware of have shown or suggested anything like this.

But then there are people like the Masai tribe in Africa [6].Their traditional diet consists almost exclusively of milk, and 66% of their calorie intake comes from fat. Their DC intake varies between 600 and 2,000 mg/day (for comparison, Western health boards recommend a maximum daily intake of 300 mg/day), but in spite of this, their BC is very low, with an average value of 135 mg/dL, and they do not appear to experience any CVD whatsoever! It's highly disputed whether or not this is due to dietary factors, though - for example, the Masai are very active, and they appear to have a few metabolic differences compared to us. In addition, other African tribes that subsist on similar diets as the Masai have higher BC levels [7].

However, there was one study [8] in which two groups of Masai volunteers were fed a diet made of nondairy coffee creamer, beans, sugar, corn, corn oil, and a vitamin pill. (Unless you have access to a university database or something similar, you might not be able to access this paper. Fortunately, Stephan of the Whole Health Source blog has summarized the study nicely here.) One of the groups ate an additional 2,000 mg of DC, whilst the other group ate the cholesterol-free diet outlined above. Interestingly, BC went up in both groups, from 125 mg/dL to over 170 mg/dL, and both groups gained a significant amount of weight. No large difference was observed between the two groups. This suggests that high BC could be due to dietary factors other than DC. My bet is on sugar and processed, hydrogenated vegetable oils.

I still don't think the cholesterol question has a definite answer, but perhaps future studies will tell. In the meantime, I don't worry about DC intake too much, although I don't let it get too high. Currently, my DC intake is ~150 mg/day. The last time I checked my BC, I used a DIY home test, which reported my BC levels to be "below 150 mg/dL". I could use a more accurate test, but doctors are reluctant to test BC levels in lean, young, healthy people like me. Oh well.

How much dietary fat?

2009-04-08T11:29:00.005+02:00

I've been researching the pros and cons of various proportions of fat intake in one's diet. The standard message from governments and national health organizations is that too much fat, specifically saturated fat, is very bad for you, the given reason being that the latter contributes to cardiovascular diseases (CVD) such as atherosclerosis. However, from reading a bit (actually, quite a lot) about it, I'd say that this is by no means certain. Many people have written about this before, so I won't really bother with a lengthy explanation. Instead, I'll link to a great post on another blog (here). Basically, the post says that you can "show" virtually any association you like between fat intake and CVD, as long as you choose the "correct" countries to look at, and that in reality, there doesn't seem to be a clear correlation between fat intake and CVD. This may or may not be true for other things, e.g. cholesterol, but that's a subject for later posts.

Others say that higher fat intake generates less free radicals, because of NAD/NADH+ and FAD/FADH2, two pairs of carrier molecules for electrons in metabolism. Carbohydrate metabolization generates a greater NAD/FAD ratio than fat metabolization. NADH+ delivers its electrons to a part in the electron transport chain known as Complex I, while FADH2 delivers electrons to Complex II. Complex I has a greater tendency to "leak" electrons than Complex II, and this leaking is responsible for a large amount of free radical production. So by using more FAD and less NAD than carbs, fat may be a "cleaner" source of energy.
Apart from health effects, different fat intake proportions can have other effects. For example, diets that are a bit higher in fat and protein, and lower in carbs, have been suggested to induce greater satiety than low-fat, high-carb diets. This could be important for CR practicioners, since the reduced calorie content of their diet might mean feeling hungry more often.

For me, all this goes to show that you can have almost any macronutrient ratio you like in your diet and still get CR benefits, as long as you do three things: avoid "bad" foods (junk food, refined carbs, trans fats, etc.), restrict calories, and ensure proper nutrition. The rest is up to you.

Low Carb?

2009-04-03T20:24:00.003+02:00

I have been thinking a bit about lowering my carbohydrate intake, specifically high-GI carbs, e.g. oats. So I did some theoretical experiments using CRON-o-Meter, and found that I could lower my carb intake to below 100 g/day without compromizing adequate nutrient intake. It would mean that my protein intake would be higher, but there seems to be anti-cancer benefits of low-carb as well. For example, most cancer cells need a lot of energy to grow, and that energy is most likely best supplied by glucose in the form of blood sugar. But a lower carb intake (and specifically, a lower high-GI carb intake) would mean lower blood sugar levels. Interestingly, one study in particular reporting an interesting finding: the low-carb diet used in the study actually lead to lower levels of IGF-1 than the low-fat, high-carb diet. I'm not sure what the respective diets looked like, though, so perhaps there could be some confounding factors. There are studies reporting the opposite conclusions, so you'll just have to be a critical thinker and find what seems to work best for you. I may try lowering my carb intake and see how it goes.
Low-carb diets have also been shown to improve blood lipid levels, as written about here (although that site may be somewhat biased, I don't know), and here (by a popular low-carb blogger).

A nice low-carb meal might be scrambled eggs and eggwhites with salmon and spinach, as seen above. A low-carb intake (meaning higher protein and fat intakes) might also lead to better satiety, as shown by a few studies, and that would be a good thing, since I sometimes get a little hungry on the diet I eat now. I would still like to do more research on this. I guess I'll just have to try and see.

Breakfast, Take 2

2009-03-29T10:38:00.004+02:00

I've tried some very nice things for breakfast lately. The first one is mashed sweet potatoes with coconut milk, topped with strawberries. Very sweet while still containing no added sugar, and very little natural sugar. Delicious!
The second one is the green smoothie pictured above. It's basically an avocado smoothie, containing one whole avocado (peeled and with the pit removed), some spinach, and a tablespoon of lime juice. Add 1½ cup or so of water, and mix until desired consistency. I wonder how it would taste with cocoa powder instead of lime juice?

C(R)ottage Pie

2009-03-25T15:39:00.004+01:00

Today I made a variant of cottage pie, with sweet potatoes instead of regular ones. Otherwise, it was mostly the same. I do eat some meat once in a while, just not everyday. Anyway, here it is:

C(R)ottage Pie
510 calories (28% protein, 50% carbs, 22% fat)

250 g sweet potato, peeled, diced
200 g broccoli, frozen
100 g mushrooms, sliced
½ dL oat milk
100 g ground beef, lean meat
½ onion, chopped
spices: cinnamon, ginger, salt, black pepper
oil or butter for frying

Set oven to 200°C. Cook sweet potatoes, covered with water, for 15 minutes in a saucepan. Add broccoli, and cook for another 5 minutes. Drain, set aside and chop the broccoli, and mash the sweet potatoes together with the oat milk in a bowl. Add cinnamon and ginger to taste.

Heat/melt some oil/butter in a non-stick skillet, and fry ground beef, chopped onion and sliced mushrooms on medium heat until the beef is no longer red. Mix this with the chopped broccoli in an oven-proof dish. Add a few dashes of salt and black pepper, then spread the mashed sweet potatoes evenly over it. Bake in oven for 30 minutes.

The Protein Issue

2009-03-21T12:04:00.001+01:00

Among CR practicioners, one of the most significant causes of variation is the amount of protein consumed, or rather, the percentage of one's daily calorie intake consisting of protein. There are a lot of studies on both high- and low-protein diets, some theories based on the paleo/evolutionary diet thing, others on the effects of various ratios of protein to carbs to fat (P:C:F) in one's diet on various health parameters and biomarkers. You can't really say that one CR diet is universally better than another. What seems to matter is reducing calories and ensuring adequate nutrition; after that, it's mostly nitpicking.

The differences that do exist between good high- and low-protein CR diets, though, seem to mostly center around IGF-1 (a growth hormone). High-protein diets lead to higher IGF-1 levels, and vice versa. There is some evidence suggesting that higher dietary protein intake reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD), perhaps because the heart and other muscles grow better and may lose less mass with age, while lower protein intake (leading to lower IGF-1 levels) may reduce the risk of cancer, since cancer cells also need to grow and are not able to do so as well when there's less IGF-1 around. Personally, I'm sticking with lower protein for now, since I know that CR already virtually eliminates CVD. Sure, CR lowers the risk of cancer as well, but cancer is a lot less preventable and treatable, so it may become a more significant factor later in life for CR practicioners I would like to minimize the significance of cancer rather than reduce the almost nonexistent risks of CVD even further. But again, YMMV.

Dr. Luigi Fontana on the Sunday Evening Update

2009-03-19T22:37:00.006+01:00

The Immortality Institute hosts a web channel called the Sunday Evening Update where, every Sunday evening (as the name suggests), the director of the Institute (he's named Justin) brings you the latest news and views on life-extension. Almost every Sunday, he also manages to get a more or less famous scientist or life-extensionist for an hour-long interview. People that have been interviewed include: Scott Miller, owner of the game company 3D Realms and responsible for well-known video games like the Duke Nukem and Max Payne series; Tom Mooney, founder and executive director of the Coalition to Extend Life; Bruce Klein, who started the AI company Novamente and is also vice presitent of the Singularity University in Silicon Valley; and myself (this would be the representative of "less famous"), together with another student, Sven, with whom I've written a paper on an AGE called glucosepane.

Anyway, this Sunday (March 22nd), the well-known calorie restriction researcher Dr. Luigi Fontana (depicted) is being interviewed! This will probably be a great chance to learn more about CR, and perhaps learn a few tips and tricks for getting started or to keep going. Just follow the link at the beginning of this post, and you'll arrive directly at the web channel site! There's a chat where you can ask live questions to Dr. Fontana (or some other interviewee, depending on the date), and Justin will pass the questions along for the interviewee to answer. So check it out this Sunday!

Sweet Potato Wedges, and a Cognac Experiment

2009-03-18T20:44:00.014+01:00

Sweet potatoes are so versatile! You can make all kinds of dishes with them - basically any dish where you would otherwise have used potatoes. Today I made oven-baked sweet potato wedges, by simply cutting sweet potatoes into wedges, coating them with about 1 tbsp of olive oil, and baking them in the oven for about 15 minutes, turning them over after half that time. Here's how it turned out:

I also had some leftover blueberries, so I decided to do a little experiment. I have a bottle of old Cognac that I find too sharp for my taste - I prefer the rustic and intense flavor of Armagnac. Anyway, I put the blueberries in a bowl, poured about a cup of Cognac over them, and let that stand for a few minutes. I then poured the blueberry-infused Cognac into a bottle (and ate the blueberries). The result was a ruby-red liquid that didn't taste nearly as sharp as before, and had a nice hint of blueberries - just a hint, no more than that. I thought it turned out pretty well. Maybe I should call it "Ombre de Bleuets" or something. I think I'm going to give it to one of my friends for his 21st birthday.

Pi Day

2009-03-14T20:06:00.004+01:00

Continuing the trend of nerdy unofficial holidays, today is Pi Day! (pi = 3.14) Actually, Pi Day was recognized this year by the US congress as "National Pi Day".

Anyway, I decided to celebrate the occasion by making... pie!

Okay, it's not really a pie - I just used my standard oat pancake batter, and made a pi-shaped cutout after baking it in the oven for 10-15 minutes. I then filled the cutout with blueberries.

Another interesting, but not as obvious, way to celebrate Pi Day is by eating pizza, as pointed out by a friend of mine. The logic goes like this: If a pizza's radius is z, and its height is a, then its volume V = pi * z * z * a. Nice, huh?

Popcorn!

2009-03-13T22:15:00.005+01:00

I recently bought a popcorn-making machine. It's the kind that uses hot air to pop the corn, and it doesn't use any fat or salt. Air-popped popcorn is actually a decently healthy snack, and it has a lot of volume per calorie - 100 calories of the stuff is more than three cups! As such, it's a good snack for CR practicioners like me. The only downside to air-popped popcorn is that they don't taste very much. So to improve their flavor, I made a cajun-ish spice mix consisting of two parts paprika, one part garlic powder, one part onion powder, and a dash of chili. I then sprayed some water on the popcorn, and added some of the spice mix I made. The water is for making the spice stick to the popcorn. Tastes great, is low in calories, and has no salt.

Salmon Rolls

2009-03-10T12:54:00.003+01:00

Today I ate some more smoked salmon, inspired by sushi.

426 calories (41% protein, 38% carbs, 21% fat)
(makes 8-10 rolls)

200 g smoked salmon
2 square sheets of dried nori seaweed (the kind used for sushi)
200 g sweet potato, diced
½ dL oat milk
dill

Cook the sweet potato for 20 minutes in a saucepan, with plenty of water. Drain, and mash with a fork. Add oat milk, and mash together until smooth.

Put a sheet of dried nori seaweed on a small mat of some sort (there are special bamboo mats for this, but I use a regular mat). Spread half of the mashed sweet potatoes over the bottom half of the nori sheet, add 100 g of smoked salmon, and carefully form a roll using the mat (don't touch the nori directly). Do the same with the rest of the ingredients.

Cut each roll into 4-5 pieces (depending on how thick you want them) using a very sharp knife. (If your knife isn't sharp enough, you'll destroy the roll.) Garnish each piece with a bit of dill and put them in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes to cool them down. Serve cold.

Dijon Salmon Patties

2009-03-07T13:55:00.004+01:00

I'm genereally not a big fan of mustard, but this Dijon mustard is actually pretty good. So today, I decided to try it out in a new way:

Dijon Salmon Patties
423 calories (45% protein, 14% carbs, 41% fat)

140 g salmon, frozen
1 large whole egg
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
20 g rolled oats
1 tsp mustard seeds

Bring some water to a boil in a saucepan, add the salmon, and cook for 10 minutes on low heat. In the meantime, grind the rolled oats into oat flour using a blender. Mix egg, mustard, and mustard seeds in a bowl, add oat flour, and stir until smooth. When the salmon is done, drain it, and put it into the bowl. Mash together with a fork. Fry patties in a non-stick skillet on medium heat (this makes two patties for me).

These were pretty good. I wonder how they would taste with tomato ketchup instead of mustard, though?

Square Root Day!

2009-03-04T15:25:00.004+01:00

Yesterday was Square Root Day! (March 3rd, 2009, or 03/03/09, and 3 is the square root of 9.) Since I just found out yesterday, and Square Root Day only happens nine times per century, I decided to celebrate a bit with a nice dinner, so I made some of my favorite oven-roasted vegetables: broccoli, mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, and sweet potatoes.

I thought it was very appropriate for the occasion. Can you see why? ;)

Away Again

2009-03-02T14:48:00.006+01:00

I've been visiting my parents again this weekend, so that's why there haven't been any new posts around here. I haven't tried any new recipes so far either, since my parents cook dinner when I'm visiting them. I have also spent some time with some friends I don't see as often nowadays. But there will be new posts soon, I promise :)

Salmon Pancake Burgers

2009-02-25T12:11:00.004+01:00

Today I bought some smoked salmon. I really like it - reminds me of sushi. Add to that my newfound love of oat pancakes, and you get this:

Salmon Pancake Burgers
513 calories (31% protein, 43% carbs, 26% fat)

200 g broccoli, frozen
25 g blue mussels, frozen
100 g white mushrooms, frozen, sliced
1 pearl onion, fresh, sliced
85 g smoked salmon (3 slices)
1 large whole egg
110 g oat milk
45 g rolled oats
1 tsp baking powder
100 g spinach, frozen, chopped
1 tbsp tomato ketchup
a dash of salt and dill

Start by bringing some water to a boil in a saucepan, add broccoli, mussels, mushrooms and onion, and let boil for about 5 minutes. When done, drain and separate the broccoli from the rest of the ingredients. In the meantime, grind the rolled oats into oatmeal flour using a blender. In a bowl, combine egg and oat milk, and mix until the yolk is dissolved. Add oatmeal flour and baking powder, and mix until smooth. Make two pancakes in a small nonstick skillet.

Put the frozen spinach in a bowl, and defrost in a microwave oven on high heat for a few minutes. When done, mix with mussels, mushrooms and onion. Put this mix on one of the pancakes. Add three slices of smoked salmon on top, and then add salt and dill. Finally, put tomato ketchup on top of that, and then add the second pancake on top of everything. Serve with broccoli.

I thought it was very good. Try it out and see for yourself!

More on Alcohol

2009-02-23T13:56:00.008+01:00

I had nothing better to do on a Monday afternoon, so after my previous post on the benefits of light alcohol consumption, I did some research into the chemical properties of various liquors, particularly brandy, and found that all drinks may not be equal. (All this can be found at PubMed or Wikipedia, or by using Google, so it's nothing fancy.) This may not be particularly relevant to CR, but I think it's fun to research stuff anyway, so here goes.

Distilled grape beverages like Cognac and Armagnac might have a greater polyphenol content than other liquors, e.g. vodka. I've found a few studies on this. One study compared the effects of Armagnac and vodka on platelet aggregation in healthy individuals, and found a greater inhibition of aggregation by Armagnac than by vodka. Another study analyzed the antiradical properties of commercial Cognac, and found nonflavonoid phenols to be mainly responsible for its antiradical effects. Interestingly, ellagitannins (imposed by aging in oak barrels, mainly during the first year of aging) were found to have the most significant effect. This could mean that longer aging in oak barrels leads to greater polyphenol content. I wonder what those 100-year old brandies would be like...

Another question I thought of is if, and how, the distillation process affects polyphenol levels. If it does, there might be a difference in the polyphenol contents of Armagnac and Cognac, since Cognac is doubly distilled, while Armagnac is only distilled once. Also, the variety of oak that the barrels are made of could have an effect on ellagitannin levels. Again, there is a difference between Armagnac and Cognac: Armagnac is traditionally aged in barrels made from the local black oak, while Cognac barrels are made from regular oak shipped from all over Europe. From what I've read, it seems that black oak is a very tannic wood, so it could mean that Armagnac has higher levels of ellagitannins than other kinds of brandy.

Interestingly, a study on the polyphenol contents of 12 categories of distilled spirits found Armagnac to have the highest concentrations of six kinds of polyphenols - about twice as high as Cognac, and four times as high as whisky. This might have something to do with the distillation process and the black oak, as I mentioned.

Tomato Pastitsio

2009-02-21T16:48:00.003+01:00

I got this idea from combining two dishes presented in a food & recipe blog that I subscribe to. This is a really simple dish that doesn't take too long to prepare.

Tomato Pastitsio
555 calories (17% protein, 70% carbs, 13% fat)

200 g broccoli, frozen, chopped
25 g blue mussels, frozen
100 g white mushrooms, frozen, sliced
75 g macaroni, whole-wheat (dry weight)
400 g tomatoes, crushed, canned
1 tbsp cornstarch (for thickening; you can use something else if you want)
about 1 tsp olive oil
0.2 tsp salt, black pepper

Bring some water to a boil in a saucepan. Add broccoli, blue mussels, white mushrooms and macaroni, and cook for 5 minutes. Drain.

Mix crushed tomatoes and cornstarch in a microwave-proof dish, and cook for 2 minutes on high heat in a microwave oven. Give it a few stirs, and cook for another 2 minutes on high heat. Stir well afterwards.

Set oven to 200°C. Lightly coat an ovenproof dish with olive oil (I used about 1 tsp). Add the macaroni as the bottom layer, then the chopped broccoli, mussels and mushrooms. Add salt and pepper, and finally, pour the tomato sauce on top. Bake in oven for 40 minutes.

Oatmeal Flour Pancakes

2009-02-20T12:42:00.005+01:00

I've finally managed to make wheat-free pancakes - and I never thought it would be this easy. And they taste just like regular pancakes. All I did was grind some rolled oats in my blender to make oatmeal flour, and replace wheat flour with this at a 1:1 ratio. I like to use a 4:10 ratio of flour to milk (on a weight basis - approx. 1:1 by volume), since I find that it gives the pancakes a nice consistency. So, for example, this is what I had today:

Oat Pancakes
404 calories (17% protein, 55% carbs, 28% fat)

70 g oatmeal flour (as described above)
175 g oat milk (I'm lactose intolerant)
1 large whole egg
1 tsp baking powder

Mix egg and oat milk in a bowl. Add oatmeal flour, and stir until smooth. Add baking powder, again stirring until smooth. If you like, add your favorite seasoning as well. Make pancakes in a small non-stick skillet (no butter or oil needed). For me, the above amounts of ingredients are enough for three pancakes.

What About Alcohol?

2009-02-18T00:35:00.004+01:00

The health effects of alcohol has been an extensively researched topic for a long time. Obviously, too much booze is definitely bad for you, but there is an increasing amount of evidence that light or moderate alcohol consumption (1-2 drinks/day) may reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. The most studied beverage is red wine, due to the fact that it contains resveratrol, but other drinks have been studied, as well as alcohol in general. I won't link to studies on excessive alcohol consumption, since we all know that it's bad, but here are two articles and studies on light consumption:

Moderate alcohol consumption and lower levels of inflammatory markers in US men and women.
This study describes a beneficial effect of light (1-2 drinks/day) alcohol consumption on health markers, compared to non-drinkers, in healthy male and female health professionals.

Moderate Drinking May Lengthen Life
"Moderate drinking may lengthen life, but heavy drinking raises the risk of death [...] Other observational studies have linked moderate drinking to heart benefits. The new Italian report covers deaths from all causes, not just heart-related deaths. [...] further studies are needed to check their findings."

Keep in mind that some of the studies on the benefits of light alcohol consumption may be partially funded by beverage companies and producers, so the benefits may not be as significant as they seem. Also, the phrase "lenghten life" (or similar phrases) is often used very loosely, so don't bet on a true extension of maximum or average lifespan in healthy people whenever you see the term.

Note that I'm not advocating that you start drinking if you don't already, but if you only drink lightly, there's probably no significant harm in it. I like to have a glass of wine occasionally (not everyday, though), or a small amount of fine old liquor - my favorite so far is a 30-year old vintage Armagnac. I never drink to (or past) the point where I notice any detrimental effects, though.

When it comes to CR, one disadvantage to alcohol is that it's basically "empty calories", containing no micronutrients to speak of. But again, occasional light consumption shouldn't be a problem for most people.

Green Smoothie

2009-02-16T22:07:00.001+01:00

My smoothie has evolved - it's now green! I got the idea from Matt's CR blog, where he wrote about a smoothie with spinach and kale. I decided to try something similar, resulting in the smoothie seen in this picture. I mixed a medium banana, a peeled kiwi fruit, 100 g frozen chopped spinach (defrosted), 1 tbsp cocoa powder and 2 dL water in my blender. It's actually really tasty, and very nutritious.

Maybe I should call it "Moss Smoothie", since it's similar in color to moss, and has a rich, sort of 'earthy' taste.

Scrambled Sweet Potatoes

2009-02-15T16:27:00.006+01:00

Sweet potatoes are one of my favorite vegetables. It can be used in place of normal potatoes most of the time. It has a unique taste, though - I think it's tastier than potatoes, but YMMV. Anyway, here's a recipe I accidentally made up today. I had intended to make some kind of patties, but they just fell apart, so it turned out like this instead:

Scrambled Sweet Potatoes
400 calories (10% protein, 70% carbs, 20% fat)

200 g sweet potatoes, peeled, diced
75 g chickpeas, cooked earlier (or canned, if you prefer that)
½ dL oat milk, unsweetened
1 whole egg
salt, and olive oil for frying

Bring some water to a boil in a saucepan, add diced sweet potatoes and chickpeas, and cook for 15 minutes on medium heat. Drain, put into a bowl, add oat milk and egg, and mash together. Add some more oat milk if the mixture is too firm. Heat some olive oil (I used about 1 tsp) in a non-stick skillet, and fry on high heat until the egg white in the mixture has coagulated. Serve immediately (in my case, with broccoli).

I think it could have used some kind of seasoning (maybe chili?), but other than that, it was pretty good.

Turnover Pancake

2009-02-13T14:46:00.006+01:00

There are so many things you can do with pancakes! Today I tried a Calzone-esque version of filled pancakes:

Turnover Pancake
488 calories (30% protein, 51% carbs, 19% fat)

Batter:
1 dL oat milk
1 tsp soy
1 whole egg
50 g graham flour
1 tsp baking powder

Filling:
50 g white mushrooms, frozen, sliced
25 g blue mussels, frozen
1 pearl onion (or ½ regular onion), chopped
125 g cottage cheese, 1.5% fat

Side dish:
200 g broccoli, frozen

Set oven to 225°C. Bring some water to a boil in a saucepan, add broccoli, mushrooms, onion and mussels, and let boil for a few minutes, to defrost the frozen ingredients and to take the sharp taste off the onion. Set aside the broccoli, and mix the rest with cottage cheese in a small bowl.

Mix the batter ingredients in a bowl and stir until smooth. Let sit for a few minutes, and pour the batter into a large non-stick skillet. Fry until the underside of the pancake is firm and slightly browned, and the topside begins to firm. Put the filling mix on one half of the pancake, and fold the other half over the filling. Fry for about a minute on each side of the folded pancake to seal the fold.

Put the filled pancake on a paper-covered baking sheet, and bake in oven for about 10 minutes. Serve immediately, with a side dish of broccoli.

The soy added a nice brown color and a delicious savory taste to the pancake, and the filling was really nice. Success!

Supplements and CR

2009-02-11T13:35:00.000+01:00

In my second post, I said that I don't take any supplements. Actually, that wasn't entirely true: I do take a few supplements, but it's nothing fancy, really. The ones I do take are these: 1,000 mg of fish oil (omega-3), 1,000 IU of vitamin D3, and 15 mg of zinc. (So technically, I was telling the truth; I said that I don't take any vitamin supplements, and omega-3 is a fatty acid, "vitamin" D3 is actually a secosteroid, and zinc is a mineral.)

Anyway, there are several reasons why I take only these three, and not any other ones. Firstly, both omega-3 and vitamin D3 supplementation have huge amounts of evidence for beneficial effects; long chain omega-3 fatty acids (like EPA and DHA, the ones in fish oil) have been shown over and over again to improve cardiovascular health and reduce the risk of heart disease. Quite a few studies also report a reduction in cancer risk and lowered cholesterol levels. (Wikipedia has a good summary of the health benefits of omega-3.) And vitamin D3, or cholecalciferol, has a number of studies describing improved immune system response, reduction of cancer risk and/or death rate, and all-cause mortality in general. (Again, Wikipedia has a good article about vitamin D.)

Secondly, even when practicing CR, there may be some micronutrients you simply can't realistically get 100% of the RDA of. For me, that's vitamin D and zinc. The body can make vitamin D from sunlight, but recent research has shown that you may need more than that. 1,000 IU/day seems like a good amount to supplement with. For zinc, I usually end up around 100% of the RDA. However, studies have shown zinc and copper levels to be connected. According to research, a good ratio of copper to zinc is 1:10. Without the zinc supplement, my zinc intake is about 10 mg/day, and my copper intake about 2.5 mg. Therefore, I supplement with 15 mg of zinc, making it 25 mg in total, and giving me a 1:10 copper-zinc ratio.

So why don't I take other supplements? Why don't I just eat what I want, take a multivitamin pill, and be done with it? Well, CR doesn't really work that way. It has been tried in studies on mice, though, and the mice getting nutritionally "poor" food plus multivitamin supplements didn't live any longer, while mice given proper nutrient-rich food gained all of CR's benefits. Add to that the fact that so far, no supplement has resulted in maximum lifespan extension in healthy people. Scientists don't really know why, but one reason may be that in food, there are several other substances that you don't get from a vitamin pill. Also, the pills might contain the wrong form of vitamins, leading to poor absorption by the body, or unwanted effects.

Speaking of unwanted effects, some supplements that were previously thought to be good for you may actually turn out to have negative long-term side effects. A good example of this is benfotiamine, a derivative of vitamin B1 (thiamine). Benfotiamine was for a long time thought to be healthy, but recently, research has shown an increased cancer risk associated with benfotiamine supplementation. (Click here for a more in-depth explanation.) Therefore, I don't follow the "it doesn't hurt, and might just help" philosophy when it comes to relatively unknown supplements. This includes all those herbal supplements on the market today, like rhodiola rosea, ashwagandha, and others. I feel that we just don't know enough about them to make an educated assumption, and I'd rather not subject myself to unnecessary risks. And just because people have been taking certain things for a very long time, it doesn't necessarily mean it's good for you. For example, traditional chinese medicine (which has been practiced for thousands of years) sometimes used arsenic trioxide and cinnabar, two toxic and potentially carcinogenic (cancer-causing) substances. For me to start taking a supplement, it has to have been studied for a long time, and shown almost unequivocally to have significant benefits and no long-term health risks.

Oven-Baked Apple Pancake

2009-02-09T00:58:00.000+01:00

My pancakes continually evolve. This time I'm trying baking the pancake in my oven, with some cinnamon and apple - sort of like a pie.

Oven-Baked Apple Pancake
420 calories (13% protein, 64% carbs, 23% fat)

50 g whole-grain flour
1 dL oat milk
1 whole egg
1 tsp baking powder
1 medium apple, sliced
½ tsp vanilla powder (i.e. ground vanilla pods)
spices: cinnamon, 0.1 tsp salt
1 tsp butter

Set oven to 225°C. Mix flour, oat milk, egg, baking powder, cinnamon, vanilla powder and salt in a bowl. Lightly coat an ovenproof dish with butter, and pour the pancake batter into it. Put the apple slices on top of the batter. Bake in oven for 10 minutes. Serve immediately.

I made a makeshift vanilla sauce from nonfat quark cheese and vanilla powder. It was good, but I think it could be better with something else instead of quark cheese. I'd still like to avoid a lot of fat and sugar, though.

In retrospect, I forgot to coat the ovenproof dish with butter before putting it into the oven, which lead to the pancake sticking to the sides and bottom of it. And I should probably have used a smaller dish, to make the pancake rise a bit higher. It was really good, but with a little butter, a smaller ovenproof dish and a better vanilla sauce, this could turn into something even greater.

Curry Pancakes

2009-02-06T12:35:00.003+01:00

Today I tried seasoning my pancake batter with curry. It turned out like this:

I used the standard pancake recipe that I posted earlier. I really like the thickness (about 1 cm) of the pancakes - sort of like bread. I tried making an egg-white pancake batter, but it was very thin, so I discarded it. I served the pancakes with broccoli, blue mussels, white mushrooms, chickpeas, and almonds. Curry pancakes were pretty good, but I still like gingerbread pancakes better.

Pancake Experiments

2009-02-05T11:45:00.005+01:00

I have been thinking of something to spice up my otherwise quite plain pancakes with. Of course, I use whole-grain flour, so they have that whole-grain taste, but I was thinking more along the lines of spices, herbs and the like. I'd like to avoid using gluten grains, but there's just no match to the binding capacity of wheat flour. Or is there? If you know any non-glutenous flours that have the same binding capacity as wheat, please inform me!

Here's my standard pancake recipe, for reference. Just mix and fry.
(makes two 20 cm diameter pancakes)

50 g (1 dL) whole-grain flour
1 dL oat milk, unsweetened
1 whole egg
1 tsp baking powder

I'm considering trying an egg-white pancake recipe, though, to avoid the high cholesterol content of the yolk. And I can get away with using water instead of oat milk. I wonder if they'll be as good, though. Something like this, perhaps:

2 egg whites
25 g whole-grain flour
25 g quick rolled oats
1 dL water
1 tsp baking powder

Anyway, back to spices. So far, I've tried two additions: gingerbread spices (cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and cardamom), and blueberries. The gingerbread pancakes turned out to be really tasty, and remind me of Christmas (in Sweden, it's tradition to eat gingerbread cookies around Christmas time). The ones with blueberries were not quite as tasty (though still pretty good), partly because of the blue-grey color the pancakes got due to the blueberries.

Future experiments involving curry will be conducted. Any other ideas are greatly appreciated!

What About Exercise?

2009-02-03T08:50:00.009+01:00

Since I'm obviously very concerned with staying healthy, you may be wondering if I do any exercise. The answer is that, other than daily activities like walking or biking, I don't. The reason for this is that when you exercise, you're spending calories, so you have to eat more calories to keep up, thereby negating CR:s benefits, which are due to eating fewer calories. The benefits induced by exercise may not be enough to compensate for the loss of CR benefits due to having to eat more calories. As a good illustration of that, see this graph, from a study comparing CR and exercise in rats:

Group A = exercising rats; Group B = sedentary rats (control group); Group C = CR:ed rats; Group D = CR:ed and exercising rats. Average lifespan of a group is measured at the point where "% Survival" is down to 50, meaning that half of the rats in that group have died. Maximum lifespan is where "% Survival" hits 0, meaning that the last rat in that group has died.

Unsurprisingly, the sedentary rats in group B were the shortest-lived in terms of average and maximum lifespan. The rats in group A (exercising) had a longer average lifespan, but interestingly, their maximum lifespan was unchanged compared to group B. This is consistent with theories on exercise; it makes you better suited to deal with life in old age, but it doesn't make you live any longer per se. Group C (CR:ed), on the other hand, had both average and maximum lifespan significantly increased compared to the sedentary group, as you would expect. However, the average and maximum lifespan of the rats in group D (CR:ed and exercising) were virtually unchanged compared to group C. This suggests either that exercise doesn't confer any additional benefits onto CR:ed animals, or that the beneficial effects of exercise is negated by the loss of CR benefits, since the rats had to eat more calories when exercising than when being on CR alone.

To a certain degree, exercise may certainly help, but when combined with CR, it's not as beneficial. That's a significant reason why I don't exercise. And, to be honest, I find it a lot easier to not do something (i.e. not eat as much), since it gives me more time to do other things.

Dining Out

2009-02-01T23:07:00.002+01:00

Sorry for not posting for a few days - I've been visiting my parents. I inevitably deviate a little from my CR practice whenever I'm there, since my mother cooks dinner. The rest of the meals are the same, but dinner is usually more in line with the "standard" diet. If I visit them for longer periods of time, this does have an effect on my stomach, but it's transient; as soon as I return to my own home, the feeling passes, and I'm back on CR again.

I don't eat 100% CR meals when I'm not visiting others either. Once a month or so I usually go to a dinner party or ball of some kind, with three-course meals, wine, and whatnot. But I think that as long as I stick to CR the rest of the days, dining out once a month is no problem.

Chocolate Smoothie

2009-01-29T11:16:00.001+01:00

I really love this smoothie. It has a very noticeable effect on blood sugar levels, though, so I only drink it sparingly as a dessert or snack nowadays.

1 medium banana
100 g strawberries
1 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1,5 dL (0.6 cup) water

Just throw it all into a food blender and mix until it acquires a creamy consistency. Bananas and strawberries are both healthy and really tasty, and according to several studies, cocoa may have significant amounts of healthy compounds called flavonoids.

Here's an article about the possible health benefits of cocoa. As I said, there are several studies on the subject. If you want to read a bit more about the science behind things, searching the PubMed database is a very good start.

Stuffed Zucchinis

2009-01-27T14:04:00.000+01:00

After the overabundance of tomato soup a couple of days ago, today I decided to cook something a bit less volumous - stuffed zucchinis. This is the first time I've ever had zucchinis, actually.

Stuffed Zucchinis
548 calories (30% protein, 45% carbs, 25% fat)

3 medium-sized zucchinis
25 g blue mussels, canned
50 g white mushrooms, frozen
60 g low-fat cheese, shredded
90 g chickpeas (cooked yesterday and frozen)
1 tbsp lemon juice
water
1 garlic clove
Spices: 0.2 tsp salt, black pepper

Side dish:
200 g broccoli, frozen
8 almonds

Start by bringing some water to a boil. Add the zucchinis, broccoli and chickpeas, and let boil for a few minutes. Drain, set each ingredient aside, and rinse the zucchinis in cold water. When they've cooled a bit, cut off a thin section length-wise, and carefully carve the insides of the zucchinis out with a teaspoon.

Set the oven to 190°C (375°F). Put the insides of the zucchinis, the chickpeas, some water, 1 tbsp lemon juice, and the garlic clove into a blender and mix until smooth, adding more water if needed. If you like, you can add the salt as well, but I find it tastier to sprinkle it on top of the stuffed zucchinis when they're finished.

Pour this smooth blend into the zucchini shells, and top with mussels, mushrooms, a dash of black pepper, and finally some cheese. Put the stuffed zucchinis on a baking sheet and bake in oven (at 190°C) for about 15 minutes. Sprinkle the salt (if you didn't use it earlier) onto the zucchinis and serve instantly, with a side dish of broccoli and almonds.

I think I put a little bit too much water into the blender when I mixed everything together, and I could have added a bit more spice, but otherwise, it was great!

Roasted Vegetables

2009-01-25T13:43:00.000+01:00

Today I decided to try out my newly re-purchased olive oil. Note that I have only accounted for about 1 tbsp of olive oil in the calories of this meal, since the rest will be left in the oven pan.

Roasted Vegetables
559 calories (13% protein, 52% carbs, 35% fat)

200 g broccoli
50 g white mushrooms
25 g blue mussels, canned
130 g sweet potato, peeled, sliced
1 yellow onion, sliced
16 cherry tomatoes
60 g chickpeas (cooked yesterday and frozen)
olive oil
Spices: 0.2 tsp salt, black pepper
8 almonds

Set the oven to 175°C. Put the broccoli, white mushrooms, sweet potatoes, blue mussels, sweet potato, onion, tomatoes and chickpeas into an oven pan, and pour some olive oil over them. Turn everything around a few times to coat it in oil. Roast in oven for 40 minutes, or until the vegetables are thoroughly cooked and have acquired some color. As usual, eat the almonds while you're waiting. When the vegetables are ready, add the salt and some black pepper, and serve instantly.

This was the best meal I've had for a very long time. Especially the broccoli and the tomatoes were awesome! I think I could have used something other than chickpeas, though, since they didn't taste as much as the rest of the dish. Still wonderful, though.

Fructose and Fruits

2009-01-25T09:55:00.000+01:00

Fructose is a sugar that's found naturally in fruits and berries, and it's also the basis of the not-so-healthy high-fructose corn syrup, a common addition to a variety of processed foods. I eat virtually 100% unprocessed foods anyway, so that's not a problem for me, but the fructose in fruits is something to consider. Compared to glucose (the same as blood sugar), fructose causes a much smaller blood sugar elevation when ingested (since it has to be converted to glucose first), but it's also far more prone to generate AGEs than glucose. Since CR is about eating as healthy as possible, it could be interesting to know how much fructose is in common fruits and berries.

I did some research on the fructose content of fruits and berries, and this is what I found out:

FRUCTOSE CONTENT OF FRUITS & BERRIES
------------------------------------------------
Fruit /100 g /100 kcal
------------------------------------------------
Apples 5,90 g 11,35 g
Bananas 4,85 g 5,45 g
Blackberries 2,40 g 5,58 g
Blueberries 4,97 g 8,72 g
Cantaloupe 1,87 g 5,50 g
Grapes 8,13 g 11,78 g
Honeydew melon 2,96 g 8,22 g
Kiwi fruit 4,35 g 7,13 g
Pears 6,23 g 10,74 g
Pineapple 2,12 g 4,24 g
Raspberries 2,35 g 4,52 g
Strawberries 2,44 g 7,63 g
Tangerines 2,40 g 4,53 g
Watermelon 3,36 g 11,20 g

The first number after the fruit's name is fructose per 100 g of fruit, and the second number is fructose per 100 kcal.

Surprisingly, one of the fruits that has the least amount of fructose, both per gram and (most significantly for CR people) per calorie, is bananas. I've heard a lot of people say that bananas are high in total sugar compared to other fruits, and on a sugar-per-weight basis, that's certainly true. However, most other fruits weigh more than peeled bananas (for example, a medium-sized apple weighs about 180 grams according to the USDA database), and most of that extra weight is water anyway. If you compare fruits on a sugar-per-calorie basis, you'll find that bananas are actually quite low (13.7 g/100 kcal) compared to other common fruits like apples (20.0 g/100 kcal), oranges (19.9 g/100 kcal) and pears (16.9 g/100 kcal).

Why Does CR Work?

2009-01-24T11:30:00.000+01:00

In my second post, I said that CR works in virtually every species it has been tried in so far. I have yet to explain why it works, though. But that's about to change, with this post!

There are several hypotheses as to why CR extends average and maximum lifespan. One of the most studied involves a gene called Sir2 (in yeast) or SIRT1 (in mammals). Putting baker's yeast on CR activates the Sir2 enzyme, which leads to 30% longer life. Similar effects have been observed with SIRT1 in mammals, by Dr. David Sinclair at Harvard. Scientists still don't know the exact functions of SIRT1 in humans, though.

Another hypothesis involves mitochondria, the power plants of cells. When lots of calories are available, the mitochondria aren't very efficient in producing energy (in the form of ATP), and therefore generate more waste products in the form of free radicals. These free radicals are highly reactive, and can wreck all sorts of havoc when they come into contact with other molecules in the cells and even to the mitochondria itself. On CR, the mitochondria recieve less calories, and therefore become more efficient in using the calories it does recieve. This means less free radical production, and less damage. Additionally, in a CR:ed organism, less energy is required to support its lower weight, and therefore, less glucose is needed in the bloodstream. This means that fewer AGEs are formed. It also means that less insulin is required to take care of the glucose that does exist, and that too causes organisms to live longer, according to research by Dr. Cynthia Kenyon.

A third and recently proposed mechanism by which CR might cause increased longevity is called hormesis. The term describes a beneficial response to low-intensity stress of some kind. This hypothesis suggests that CR causes an organism to enter a "defensive" state to survive hardship and adversity, and this leads to increased lifespan.

Additionally, CR lowers the levels of IGF-1, a growth regulator, in many organisms. However, this seems to depend on the amount of protein consumed while on CR - a high protein intake may raise IGF-1 levels. Also, it's still not entirely clear whether lowered IGF-1 levels are a cause of longevity, or just an effect of CR.

These are the most studied mechanisms so far, but there may be other ones as well. Only future research will tell.

Tomato Soup

2009-01-23T13:08:00.000+01:00

Since I had an opened can of crushed tomatoes, 3/4 full, from yesterday's pizza making, I decided to use the rest of it for today's lunch. So, without further ado:

Tomato Soup
616 calories (20% protein, 60% carbs, 20% fat)

300 g crushed tomatoes, canned
50 g walleye pollock, chopped (cooked yesterday and frozen)
50 g portobello mushrooms, sliced
200 g broccoli, chopped
8 cherry tomatoes, sliced
½ yellow onion, chopped
100 g sweet potato, without skin, chopped
90 g chickpeas (cooked earlier and frozen)
1 tbsp cornstarch (for thickening)
1 garlic clove, minced
water
Spices: 0.2 tsp salt, black pepper, basil
1 tsp flaxseed oil
8 almonds

Put everything except flaxseed oil and almonds into a saucepan, add enough water to create a desirably soupy consistency, and bring to a boil. Let boil for 5 minutes or so. Eat the almonds while you're waiting. When the soup is done, add the flaxseed oil and stir. Ready to serve!

It was good, but the simple fact was that there was a lot of soup - a whole saucepan full of it! It took me more than half an hour to eat it all. Therefore, I conclude that 600-calorie soups aren't really for me, unless I feel particularly hungry.

You might be wondering why I always add the flaxseed oil after cooking. Briefly, it's because prolonged heating causes polyunsaturated fats, like the ones in flaxseed oil, to oxidize really easily, and that's bad for you. If I cook with oil, I use olive oil instead, since it contains mostly monounsaturated fats that don't oxidize nearly as easily.

The Effects of Cooking

2009-01-23T07:29:00.000+01:00

I care about every aspect of the food I eat. That means not only what I eat, but how I eat it, and how I prepare it. Besides making certain foods edible and/or tasty, cooking and heating affects food in several ways that you may not be aware of. Some vitamins and minerals can become more bioavailable (easier for the body to absorb) after cooking, while others may become less bioavailable, destroyed, or perhaps be drained from the food by the water the food is cooked in.

Cooking can also cause the formation of certain substances in the food. A very important example of that is AGEs, which is short for advanced glycation endproducts. AGEs are formed either inside your body, as a result of modifications to glucose molecules in the bloodstream, or in food as you cook it, mainly by cooking different sugars with fats or proteins. The higher the temperature and the longer the time at which the food is cooked, the more AGEs are formed. Also, cooking foods in a way that causes browning, like glazed turkey at Thanksgiving or grilled meat, means that a lot more AGEs are formed. The AGEs are then brought into your body as you eat the food.

Once the AGEs are in your body, they can have a lot of negative effects. For example, they can bind to certain receptors on the surfaces of your cells and lead to increased inflammation, contributing to diseases like diabetes, atherosclerosis and asthma. They can also form crosslinks between molecules in your body, thereby tying them together and making them much less functionable. This is part of what happens when your skin gets wrinkly as you get older, or when your arteries become less flexible, leading to higher blood pressure and an increased risk of heart disease.

For me, all this means that I'm careful with how I cook my food. I eat some of my food raw, like fruits and some vegetables, and when I cook food, I often boil it, since that causes less AGE formation than frying. If I do fry food, it's only lightly, and never until it gets charred.

Together with another student, I have written a scientific paper on glucosepane (one of the most prominent AGEs in the body) that I hope to publish in a scientific journal soon. Keep a lookout!

Pseudo-Pizza

2009-01-22T13:00:00.006+01:00

When I was at my local supermarket a few days ago, I found this nice unsweetened multi-grain bread. It's very flat, round and about 25 cm in diameter. Perfect to use as a pizza crust! Really cheap as well - SEK 7.95 (~$1) for a package of four. So, today I decided to try it out. Behold:

Pseudo-Pizza
604 calories (28% protein, 47% carbs, 25% fat)

• 1 flat round bread, 25 cm diameter
• 100 g crushed, canned tomatoes
• 50 g walleye pollock
• 50 g portobello mushrooms, sliced
• 85 g leaf spinach
• 30 g blue mussels, canned
• ½ yellow onion, chopped
• 30 g low-fat cheese, shredded
• spices: ground black pepper, dried oregano
• 1 tsp flaxseed oil

Side dish:
• 200 g broccoli
• 8 almonds

Preheat oven to 225°C. Bring some water to a boil, add the walleye pollock, and cook for 5 minutes. Add the broccoli and cook for another 5 minutes. Drain, and set aside the broccoli.

Spread the crushed tomatoes evenly over the entire bread except the edges. Evenly distribute walleye pollock, portobello mushrooms, blue mussels, chopped onion and spinach on top. Add a little black pepper, sprinkle the shredded cheese on top of that, and finally add some dried oregano. Bake in oven at 225°C until the cheese has melted and the edges of the crust have become slightly browner. Put the pizza on a plate, and add a teaspoon of flaxseed oil. Serve instantly, with a side dish of broccoli and almonds.

In hindsight, I think I put a little bit too much black pepper on it, since it overpowered the taste of some of the other ingredients sometimes. Still delicious, though.

How Many Calories?

2009-01-21T11:42:00.009+01:00

One of the first questions that come to mind when thinking about CR is probably: how many calories do you consume? The short answer is that it depends on each person. When you start lowering calories, you'll also start losing weight. A general guideline is to find a calorie level that makes your weight stabilize at the lower end of the healthy BMI (Body Mass Index) range. BMI is calculated using your height and weight, and the healthy range is commonly between 18.5 and 25. You can calculate your BMI easily on the Internet - here, for example.

On CR, I think a good target is to have a BMI somewhere between 18.5 and 20. For me, this means that I consume about 1,700 calories per day. This leaves my weight at 57 kg (125 lbs), which combined with my height of 175 cm (5'9") gives me a BMI of 18.6.

In any case, the key to successfully starting a CR diet is to start slowly. Ideally, you should first focus on getting 100% adequate nutrition (see my earlier "Nutrient Tracking" post), and after that, ease into CR over several months, gradually lowering calories so that your body has time to adapt. Research has shown that suddenly putting mice on CR actually impairs health, whereas letting the mice slowly adjust to gradually lower calorie levels (down to a certain stable level) allows them to reap the full benefits of CR.
Scientists have also concluded that animals put on more severe CR live longer than those put on milder CR. This is shown in a very good way in this diagram:

The non-CR mice (the green line) live to a maximum age of about 35 months (the point where "Survival (%)" is down to 0, meaning that the last mouse of that variety has died). Mice on 25% CR (the blue line), meaning that they consume 25% less calories than the non-CR mice, live to 43 months of age - about 23% longer than their non-CR pals. Mice on 55% CR (the magenta line) live to be 52 months old, and those on 65% CR (the red line) to the venerable age of 55 months. That's 57% longer than the non-CR mice!

As you can see in the diagram above, there isn't really much difference between the 55% and 65% CR mice. This could mean that there is a lower limit to the amount of calories you can consume. Below that limit, other health problems can occur (possibly as a result of too low weight) that shorten lifespan, thereby negating CR's benefits.

So how does this translate to humans? Well, first we have to establish a calorie intake for non-CR humans. Generally, it's about 2,500 calories per day for men and 2,000 for women, but more specifically, it also depends on age, height, weight, and how physically active you are. After that, just divide your daily calorie intake with either 2,500 or 2,000 depending on your gender, and you'll get a CR percentage. It can be tempting to try more severe CR, in hope of living even longer. But remember, don't go too low! It's not about losing weight or eating as few calories as physically possible, but rather, eating fewer calories while still maintaining a healthy weight.

What I Eat

2009-01-20T20:19:00.002+01:00

You might be wondering what kind of food I actually eat on a daily basis. Well, wonder no more! Below is how a typical day looks for me, food-wise. Also, a friend suggested that I include more pictures in my posts, since the last couple of posts have been all text, so I'll take that advice to heart from now on - starting with this post!

Breakfast, seen in the picture above (~8:00 AM)
Oat porridge, made from 1 dL (40 g) rolled oats, with 30 g frozen blueberries, and 1,5 dL (150 g) oat milk (I'm lactose intolerant), topped with some cinnamon. To this I drink a smoothie containing a banana, 100 g of strawberries, and 1 tbsp of cocoa powder (and some water). I also like to have a raw, peeled carrot (100 g), and a few (8) almonds.

Lunch (~12:30 AM)
50 g of walleye pollock (my main source of vitamin B12), 200 g broccoli (a really great, nutritious vegetable), 50 g mushrooms, 8 almonds (for vitamin E), a teaspoon of flaxseed oil (has a lot of omega-3 fatty acids), and a dash of salt. To this I add 400 calories of whatever healthy food I feel like eating - I might have sweet potatoes, chickpeas, an egg, some salmon, and/or basically any healthy, nutritious food you can think of.

Afternoon Snack (~3:30 PM)
100 g of strawberries, a carrot (100 g), and a brazil nut (has a lot of selenium).

Supper (~7:00 PM)
Same as breakfast.

Together, this adds up to at least 100% of every micronutrient except sodium, of which I consume about 1,000 mg per day.

Now, it might seem like there's not much variety in what I eat, and that may be true. But I like to keep things quick and simple. The food I eat should be easy to prepare and require little, if any, cooking time, which is why you won't see too many fancy 2-hour dinner recipes on my blog. The meal I vary the most is lunch. Another factor for me is cost. Since I'm a student, my budget is relatively limited, and therefore I tend to avoid very expensive foods. But despite all this, I look forward to each meal, since I know that it's delicious, easy, and healthy.

Nutrient Tracking

2009-01-20T12:40:00.006+01:00

If I were to name the most important thing when practicing CR, it's probably knowing how much vitamins and minerals you get from the food you eat. Together with fewer calories, this is the essence of CR. If you practice CR without knowing this, you run the risk of getting health problems related to some chronic vitamin or mineral deficiency, since you don't know if you're getting enough of everything or not. Ideally, you want to get at least 100% of the RDA (Recommended Dietary Allowance) of almost every vitamin and mineral (collectively called micronutrients, as opposed to macronutrients which are protein, carbs, and fat) . On proper CR, you often get more than 100% of most micronutrients. The only real exception to this is sodium. Too much sodium gives you a higher risk of getting high blood pressure. Therefore, I use the RDA for sodium as an upper limit, and try not to consume more than that.

The most reliable way to find out how much micronutrients you're getting is by using computer software. There are several programs that let you input each food item you eat, and the program then gets all the data on that food (protein, carbs, fat, vitamins, minerals, etc.) from the USDA food database, in which that sort of data is stored for virtually every food item. Using a software like that, you ideally want to plan your diet so that you get at least 100% of the RDA for every micronutrient except sodium, as I said earlier. With this software, you can also keep track of how many calories you're getting, so it's a good tool in more ways than one. A good software for tracking nutrients is called CRON-O-Meter. It's free, and can be downloaded from here.

But to input food into a software like that, you need to know how much of each particular food you're eating. A good, simple way to find out is by using a common kitchen scale. They're usually accurate down to a few grams or so. For liquid food items, it's easier to measure in deciliters and liters (or cups and fl.oz. if you're more comfortable with that). Once you know that, you just type the food item name into the software's search window, and a list of foods containing that name are shown. Choose the food you want, input how many grams/cups/etc. you're having, and you're done.

Using these tools, I select foods that complement each other so that they together add upp to at least 100% of every micronutrient (except, again, sodium). For example, carrots contain a lot of vitamin A, while broccoli is a good source of vitamins C and K. This may all sound like a lot of work, and if you're not used to it, it can certainly be. But once you get the hang of it, it's pretty easy.

What's CR?

2009-01-19T18:03:00.005+01:00

For my first real post (the previous one was just an introduction), I thought I'd try to explain a bit about CR and its effects.

CR is a diet which has been studied for more than 70 years and, when properly performed, has been repeatedly shown to improve health and increase maximum lifespan by as much as 50% in many different animal species, including mice and monkeys. That's the equivalent of humans living to 180! Of course, it's sort of hard to prove that CR increases maximum lifespan in humans, since the study would literally take a hundred years (or more!), but there are studies on the effects of CR on various aspects of health, including cancer, diabetes, heart disease, Alzheimer's disease - in short, many of the diseases of aging that are so prevalent in our Western societies. In virtually every instance, CR has been shown to dramatically reduce or eliminate the risk factors associated with these diseases. I think CR can extend life in humans just as it has done in every other species it has been tried in so far. Only time will tell for sure, though.

The basics of CR is to eat fewer calories while maintaining adequate nutrition, that is, making sure you get all the vitamins and minerals you need from the food you eat (I don't count vitamin supplements in there, and I don't take them, but I'll save that story for later). That's all there is to it, really. Of course, this means eating very healthy and nutritious food. Fruits and, above all, vegetables are the building blocks of a good CR diet. Naturally, since you're eating fewer calories than normal, CR will make you lose weight, but that's just a side effect, not the primary goal. The most important thing is to improve health and (probably) prolong life.

A New Start

2009-01-19T17:01:00.008+01:00

Welcome to my blog. I'm Johan, a (at the time of this post) 20-year old Swedish student who has been practicing calorie restriction with optimal nutrition (CRON for short, or CR for very short) for about a year now.

I have created this blog to share my thoughts about what I'm doing, what I eat and don't eat, and other things related to CR. Hopefully I can get a few people out there to start thinking more about their health, if they're not already doing that, and inspire people to eat healthier, more nutritious food, if nothing else. Who knows, maybe someone will want to follow a CR diet themselves?

That's all for now. Live long and prosper!