Just this past year, at the University of Wisconsin, researchers identified that rhesus monkeys, when placed on a calorie-restricted diet,  were half as likely to get the three top diseases in American today – cancer, diabetes and heart disease. For many years scientists have been aware that reducing caloric intake dramatically slowed aging. Many studies that were done on non-vertebrate animals showed the impact of reducing the daily amount of caloric intake on anti-aging as well as preventing degenerative and chronic diseases.

Eric Ravussin, PhD, Director of the Nutrition Obesity Research Center at Louisiana State University, states “There is not question that calorie reduction dieting increases the life span of any species.” However, reduced calorie research with human beings is in its infancy and further  gathering is necessary to establish proof that this applied to humans as well as animals.

Lisa Walford, the daughter of Roy Waford, M.D., who was one of the first physicians to write about the diets health benefits, is the co-author of  “The Longevity Diet” and has been following a calories restricted diet for over 20 years. Lisa believes that her vitality and good health is the direct result of her practice of yoga and the restricted calorie diet. She states that her deep sleep and daily energy levels are proof that the diet her father endorsed works.

The principal of the calorie restricted diet is to minimize the amount of calories you consume and maximize the amount of nutrients you take in every day. You have to first determine what you natural set point is – this is basically what your body would weight naturally. From there you then reduce the amount of calories you take in every day, while maintaining your energy level. In order to increase the benefits of the calorie-restricted diet, you must consume fewer calories than what your body would require to maintain your normal weight.

Next Installment: The steps required to achieve success on a calorie-restricted life-style