There is always another fad diet around the corner for fast weight loss and one that is gaining steam for all the right reasons is the calorie restriction diet or CR for short. This is is really more of a lifestyle change than a diet because it attempts to change peoples fundamental approach to food. The idea of eating to live not living to eat is prevalent.
The concept is simple. CR proponents attempt to eat 20 – 40 % below their required caloric threshold but still maintain all of their required nutrients and vitamins. This may sound counter intuitive at first so let me explain. Many of the calories that people consume are what is referred to as empty calories. Empty calories can be sugar, potato chips or anything else that provides calories but no nutrients. CR dieters will virtually eliminate all empty calories from their diet.
Along with eliminating empty calories CRs will consume only nutritionally dense food. This means that they are not only selecting good healthy food, they are consuming the best healthy food. Think Kale instead of Ice berg lettuce. Foods may very well contain a similar number of calories but one may contain a disproportionate amount of minerals or other nutrients.
What happens to the body once a strict CR regime is adopted can be startling. Of course people undergo fast weight loss but often time because of the optimum food selection people actually start to consume more vitamins and minerals. So, not only do people loose weight but they will often have more energy, better brain function, increased endurance, a stronger sex drive, and many other startling benefits.
Despite these fabulous gains the true magic does not occur until people have been on the CR diet for many years. At this point their body’s weight will have normalized and most people will be long term converts. Their bodies will start to reconstruct on a cellular level in an environment that is highly abundant in vitamins and minerals. This is due to the lower weight and the higher nutrient intake. This reconstruction will also effect the DNA and cause damaged DNA to be replaced with healthy DNA. This means that offspring will be less likely to inherit negative genetic markers and the dieter will be less likely to develop genetic diseases or cancer.
The CR diet is one of the few that has actually been tested in the laboratory and had consistent results in longevity. The average age of dieters and the maximum age is all higher in the CR population. This hold true for animals tested as well as humans.
The health benefits of a CR diet are numerous and shocking but there is also a dark side. There can be too much of a good thing and people in the past in search of the fountain of youth have taken things too far. CR dieters walk a fine line between enough and malnutrition. Dieters will often not have much in the way of fat stores that can be beneficial during illness or other difficulties. This diet can and should evolve into a very careful study of what one eats. And it is essential that the CR make sure that they are getting enough nutrients. The CR must be aware of malnutrition symptoms and be prepared to take action to alleviate malnutrition. Symptoms of malnutrition can include muscle wasting, fatigue, depression, and anemia, along with other dangerous problems.
If you are in the market to loose a couple of pounds and you like your ice cream this may not be the diet for you but if you are serious about making a lifestyle change and you want to attempt to extend your life by 2 – 10 years the Calorie Restriction diet may be for you. You will without a doubt loose weight quickly, transform your body, and develop a new level of self control.