Beyond the 120 Year Diet : How to Double Your Vital Years (Paperback)

by Roy Walford (Author) "NOT MANY YEARS AGO, ABOUT ALL A PHYSICIAN ASKED himself when he saw a new patient was, What disease does this patient have?..." (more)
Key Phrases: United States, National Institute, New York (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
"Walford persuasively argues the merits of his solidly researched 'high/low' diet. . . . The healthful recipes are mostly creative and appealing . . . but readers will appreciate the critical examination of current medical trends, as well as explanation of food-related causes of potentially fatal diseases." --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Description
According to Dr. Roy Walford, there's no need for plastic surgery or obsessive exercising to escape the effects of time. He argues that longevity can be significantly increased by a diet that contains all the required nutrients but about a third fewer calories. In this completely revised edition of The 120 Year Diet, Dr. Walford explains - and backs up his explanation with laboratory evidence - why he believes that the anti-aging diet can preserve one's vital, productive years and extend the human life span to well beyond its present maximum. A perfect companion to the author's The Anti-Aging Plan, this book also includes 20 days of varied high-nutrition menus that contain fewer than 1,500 calories a day.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 432 pages
• Publisher: Da Capo Press; Revised and Expanded edition (August 7, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1568581572
• ISBN-13: 978-1568581576
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 6 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (40 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,536 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

114 of 117 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Please ignore previous reviewers who said author is ill, February 1, 2004

By	A Common Man (Austin, TX) - See all my reviews

(...) Dr. Walford explains four categories of evidence: testimonial, argumentative, correlational, and experimental. Testimonial is the weakest form and is highly unreliable. It is usually based on a single case. For example: if a person knows someone who smokes and that person lived to a ripe old age they might be tempted to claim that smoking is healthy. Or if a person lost weight and then had a heart attack they might be tempted to claim that losing weight causes heart attacks. The same type of faulty logic is used by reviewers who claim that the contents of the book are invalid because the author is ill.

(...)The national average life expectancy for males is 74 years. Dr. Walford has already exceeded the national average. He might have died or developed his illness earlier without the diet. There is no way of knowing. (...)

The most reliable type of scientific evidence are double blind experiments using control groups where all factors for all groups are as identical as possible except for the variable in question, in this case the diet. There must also be enough subjects for statistical significance. The more subjects involved the better. Remember that the goal is to make generalizations on diet that are valid for the entire population.

Dietary experiments with humans are difficult for a variety of reasons, not to mention the long life span. Scientific proof or disproof of Dr. Walford's theories will probably be far into the future.

The most relevant experiments that are going on now use chimpanzees. The chimp life span is over fifty years. Although there is much time remaining in the experiment, the chimps on the CRON (Caloric Restriction with Optimum Nutrition) diet already seems to be more youthful than the control group.

It is an undisputed scientific fact that CRON diets lengthen the life span of laboratory animals. The diet has been shown to be effective in all species tested so far such as bacteria, worms, fish, and mice. But the controversy is whether the diet will lengthen the maximum human life span.

Dr. Walford concludes that the maximum human life span can be extended because the maximum life span of lab animals was extended. However the control group of lab animals was allowed to eat as much as they wanted. But humans who have lived the longest are generally light eaters. They might have eaten a diet similar to what Dr. Walford is recommending. In that case the CRON diet will not further extend the maximum life span of humans. However it should extend the average life span if the whole population adopts it. Scientific evidence is not yet available to either support or refute claims of the CRON diet for humans.

It seems undeniable that persons have a greater chance of living longer by restricting their calories (the optimum amount is controversial) and eating highly nutritious food (the definition of this is also controversial).

Roy Walford's book is an excellent presentation of his theories and a wealth of information on diet and aging. He covers:
- medical tests for measuring physiological age versus chronological age
- the latest evidence on various supplements as well as hormones such as human growth hormone
- information on various diseases of aging and the evidence linking them to dietary causes
- exercise and stretching, and
- recipes and tips on how to begin the program and maintain it.

DR. WALFORD WARNS THE READER NOT TO START THE PROGRAM WITHOUT FIRST SEEING A DOCTOR WHO WILL CAREFULLY MONITOR THE DIETER'S BLOOD LEVELS OF VARIOUS NUTRIANTS AND MEASUREMENTS OF PHYSIOLOGICAL AGE. THIS IS ESPECIALLY IMPORTANT OVER THE FIRST TWO YEARS OF THE PROGRAM!

Dr. Walford does cover the very important concept of "Nutritional Density" which might prove to be a tremendous advance in nutritional science.

This concept is also presented in the book "Eat To Live" by Dr. Joel Fuhrman. I believe doctor Fuhrman's book provides an easier and superior approach to nutrition. Dr. Fuhrman's book contains references to over 500 medical studies on nutrition. Dr. Fuhrman includes Dr. Walford's book on his suggested reading list. I highly recommend Dr. Fuhrman's book.

In conclusion, the world owes Dr. Walford its debt of gratitude for his great contribution to human knowledge and his theories stimulating further dietary and aging research. Dr. Walford is a highly dedicated and brilliant scientist who has written a very thorough and well documented book relating caloric restriction with optimum nutrition to aging. This should prove extremely interesting, especially to those not familiar with this dietary approach.

(...)Although I prefer "Eat To Live", the diet book by Dr. Joel Fuhrman, I nevertheless recommend Dr. Roy Walford's book as well for those seeking information on diet, health, and aging.

53 of 55 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent explanation of calorie restriction, August 1, 2000

By A Customer

For anyone interested in the how and why of calorie restriction, this book offers all you could want to know, including what to do to get started on a calorie restriction program, how to measure your progress, where to find support and supplies, and most of all, extensive, honest explanations of what life extension is and is not, of what the diet can and cannot do, and what it will take for you to succeed. The book is well-structured so that you can find key pieces of information quickly, without having to read through more detail than you may want at a particular time, and even includes extensive endnotes with more technical (or esoteric) information. Walford discusses specific nurtitional considerations for CR and nutritional supplements at length, offers suggestions for exercise regimens, and provides sample menus and nutritional reference tables. Most of all, Walford shows you precisely, honestly, and with no hype what you will need to do to add "years to your life and life to your years." A welcome update to Walford's original book on calorie restriction for life extension, and a must-have for anyone interested in nutrition for optimal living.

44 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Rebuttal to some negative comments made by others., June 9, 2001

By	Brian (IL United States) - See all my reviews

Not to get personal, but some of the other reviewers might want to learn to read before complaining too much about Dr. Walford. There is an explanation of the glycemic indices: there ARE two, this is clearly explained anywhere that I've ever seen glycemic index mentioned. The glycemic index information that Walford gives for grains is confirmed by independent sources. Futher, independent sources confirm Walford's nutrional tables to be accurate. Walford's book cites more sources (from the Journal of the AMA, to publications of the CDC) than any "diet book" I've ever seen. This may be too technical for people who already believe in the diet and just want a cook book. For them I recommend _The Anti-Aging Plan_. _Beyond the 120 Year Diet_ is great if you're a skeptic and want hard scientific evidence of what this diet Might do. Walford is the only person I've ever heard of with a "diet book" who also has the decency and honesty to point out that nobody knows for certain that this will extend human life-span. We simply haven't had enough time to collect data yet. (If you want to know absolutely that someone will live to be 120, you will probably have to wait 120 years, obviously.) But the animal study data is more compelling and more rigorously obtained than for any other diet of which I'm aware. I wonder if some of the other reviwers are reviewing the wrong book. (?) The material in _The Anti-Aging Plan_ is much less technical and much less rigorously presented, but that book is designed essentially as a cook book. There are a FEW typos in _Beyond the 120 Diet_, particularly on some of the tables, but far fewer than in any other technical publication I have seen for years. Overall, an excellent book on the scientific basis for a calorie restricted diet.