Cutting Calories To Live a Longer Life

* Would you eat only healthy foods to live longer? (Photo source found here).

We have heard it before, and we'll undoubtedly hear it again: the key to reaching or maintaining a healthy weight is expending more calories than you consume (i.e. "calories in, calories out.") No matter which way the idea is packaged, marketed or titled... sooner or later, it all comes down to calories.

As a teenager I tried every diet plan or nutritional fad known to man (haven't most of us?), but whether I ate only 2 Snickers a day, skipped every carb invented, or ate more protein than I could stand... calories always had the final say in the results. My husband and I were recently watching Oprah at night (he's not a saint, he had just finished his X-box game), in which the entire episode talked about new-found ideas and medical breakthroughs for slowing down the aging process. One of the most prevalent topics on the show featured groups of people who focus on calorie restriction to prolong their life and longevity, and the findings were rather fascinating.

Even though this concept (called Calorie Restriction with Optimum Nutrition) sounds merely like another starvation plan, it's based on past findings and scientific studies that suggest the body works most efficiently when using less calories... but still receiving tons of vitamins and nutrients. Unlike so many diets where we merely cut out food groups or skip meals, CRON tries to get as many nutrients into the body, without an over-sized serving of calories.

For example, many CRON followers eat 5 small meals per day (averaging about 1,600 calories for a typical woman), featuring fruits and vegetables (along with small amounts of healthy fats, grains and protein) in every form possible. They practically chug, chew and blend any antioxidant rich, all natural substance that they can find into their bodies (in addition to a long list of supplements)... sounds crazy, right? Believe it or not, most of the CR followers (those who are not "radicals") have so much energy that they claim to being doing Yoga, walking or strength training well into their senior years (and for some, beyond). Although this is one nutritional experiment that will take years to prove or disprove, it seems to hold some scientific weight in the medical community.

According to various researchers and health professionals who have studied CRON advocates, the internal organs of almost every single participant (regardless of age, background or genes) begins to age backwards with time... making these dieters more youthful, agile and healthy from the inside out. Then again, any form of calorie restriction can walk a fine line between healthful and dangerous, and (as with any kind of idea) there are a majority of "CR junkies" who seem to cut calories and their Body Mass Index far too low to be healthy, and begin losing their focus on age-lengthening nutrition. This begs the question...

Would you ever consider eating this way? What do you think would be hardest part, or what do you think holds some value? Please discuss!