For decades, teams of scientists around the world have been intensely studying ageing. Now, clearly, genes play a significant part in how quickly and well we age, but there is nothing much you can do about your genes. There is, however, something you can do about what you eat. And here in America, they are starting to turn out some truly remarkable research linking food with longevity. It seems it’s not just about WHAT we eat, but how and when we eat it. Our story begins in the dust bowls of America during the 1930s. There was a terrible drought, food was scarce, and the whole country was in the grips of the Great Depression.

Quiet Railway
Quiet Railway

Longevity, Calorie Restrictors - CRonies

Now, you would imagine, in such difficult times, that life expectancy would fall, but in fact it rose. During the darkest years of the Great Depression - 1929 to 1933 - life expectancy increased by a remarkable six years. Now, on the face of it, that is really surprising, and yet, clues as to why would also be found from research done back in the 1930s.

Longevity
Union Pacific

Nutritionalists at Cornell University working with animals discovered that if you severely restrict the amount they eat, they live longer. Much, much longer.

So the next obvious question - if you do the same with humans, will it have the same effects? Well, it’s been eight decades since that observation, and only now are scientists really beginning to understand the link between calorie restriction and longevity in humans. At long last, it seems, we’re starting to get answers.

Washington University is at the heart of this new science.

Professor Luigi Fontana

Professor Luigi Fontana
Professor Luigi Fontana

Professor Luigi Fontana “We are rewriting human physiology here! It’s astonishing you know how simple dietary intervention can really change how the human body really works basically.”

Professor Luigi Fontana has spent the last 10 years studying a group of people who severely calorie restrict every single day. And he is astonished by what he’s found.

Professor Luigi Fontana “These people, they look like a different species.”

That’s quite a big statement, isn’t it?

Luigi Fontana “Yes! We are finding that they are going to live longer than their parents and brothers on the typical American diet, or Western diets.”

Luigi Fontana is clearly impressed, so I wanted to meet one of this new species of human for myself.

Joe Cordell - CRonie

Joe Cordell
Joe Cordell

Joe Cordell is a CRonie - a calorie restrictor on optimal nutrition. And that means a lot of fruit and vegetables and hopefully longevity.

Joe Cordell “I went ahead and kind of put everything out because I thought you might want to have some breakfast.”

That would be delicious, thank you. When I imagine a calorie restrictor, I imagine someone who lives basically on a couple of carrots, or something like that. I didn’t think you’d go in for breakfast. Joe kicks off his day with a mountain of fruit, some of which he then throws away.

Joe Cordell “Then what I like to do is add some Apple to it, but when you’re in my position, I want to get as much nutritional value as I can with the calorie, and virtually all the nutritional value is in the peel.”

Peeling Apple
Peeling Apple

So you’re going to slip the peel in and throw away the rest of it?

Joe Cordell “it’s great, because literally 95% of the nutritional value here… Is in the skin. The rest is sugar and calories. This is generally what have each morning.”

Do you ever think, ‘What if I’m wrong? What if it’s all wrong? I’ve done this for 10, 20 years, and then a new bit of science comes out which says it’s actually nonsense.’

Morning Snack
Morning Snack

Joe Cordell “I tell you, my brother, who weighs 100lbs more than I do, he’s about my age. He’s all the time making the joke to me that he’s going to end up out-living me and, in his opinion, I will have suffered for nothing. But the point is, I enjoy doing it. Living a healthy lifestyle is fun.”

There are an estimated 100,000 CRonies worldwide - people living on a diet which is rich in nutrients but low in calories. Joe looks fit, but not impressively young. Perhaps Luigi has been exaggerating.

What I’d love to do is take you off and do a number of tests and see just how we compare.

Joe Cordell “OK, I’m game. So, is this a challenge?”

This is a challenge indeed, a challenge I suspect I may well lose!

External Links

Longevity - Wikipedia Page

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