The Longevity Diet: Discover Calorie Restriction--the Only Proven Way to Slow the Aging Process and Maintain Peak Vitality (Paperback)

~ (Author), Lisa Walford (Author) "THE LONGEVITY DIET is a way of eating that will radically lessen your chances of suffering from the vast majority of diseases and other ailments..." (more)
Key Phrases: longevity diet, values low values, omega end, Daily Food Diary, Optimal Living, United States (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

Giving this diet a try is something that I, as a physician, and as a researcher . . . would very strongly recommend. -- Roy L. Walford, MD, (1924-2004), CR pioneer, author of Maximum Lifespan and Beyond the 120-Year Diet

Offers a new way of living. . . . It helps readers mull over a commitment to themselves to live long and healthy. -- Bill Sardi, Knowledge of Heath, Inc., author of The Anti-Aging Pill and How to Live 100 Years without Growing Old

This book is a valuable tool for those interested in living a longer, healthier life. -- Stephen R. Spindler, PHD, Professor of Biochemistry, University of California, Riverside

Product Description

At last, a book that synthesizes the increasingly popular concept of calorie restriction (CR)--a life-extending eating strategy with "profound and sustained beneficial effects," according to the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

The Longevity Diet offers clear, straightforward principles for devising an effective eating regimen to live longer and reduce the risks of virtually all the diseases of aging. The concept is simple and flexible---eat fewer calories and choose foods carefully. And it is supported by science: studies on lab mice and other mammals have led to lifespans the human equivalent of which are over 140 years, and many suggest that the benefits extend to humans.
Longtime CR practitioners and experts Brian M. Delaney and Lisa Walford clearly explain the relevant health and nutrition guidelines and provide all of the tools you need to make the appropriate dietary changes. The results can be dramatic: those who follow CR have quickly lowered their cholesterol and blood pressure and reduced body fat. Find out why a growing number of people are choosing the Longevity Diet lifestyle and let this book empower you to achieve a lifetime of healthy eating and living--whether your priorities are to live longer, reduce disease risks, lose weight, or simply feel and look healthier.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Marlowe & Company (June 2, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1568583095
• ISBN-13: 978-1568583099
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #56,748 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

108 of 112 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent ADDITION to the literature on Life Extension., June 11, 2005

By	Gregory Adams (Moorestown, NJ United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book complements Doctor Roy Walford's books very nicely.

The basic idea is that, by designing a diet which is lower in calories, but adequate in vitamins, minerals, etc., you can live a lot longer.

Dr. Walfords books introduce the idea, explain the evidence for believing that it will work, and tell you how to get started on such a diet. His books tend to be a bit technical, though very well written. You should at least read "The Anti-Aging Plan" by Roy and Lisa Walford before jumping into "The Longevity Diet."

"The Longevity Diet" isn't just a rehash of Dr. Walford's work. The authors' discuss the human, nontechnical side of the plan. How do you change your eating habits? How do you deal with cravings for ice cream, or social situations where you are expected to feast with others?

One of the recommendations involves keeping a diary of what you eat, and what situations make you over-eat, so that you can plan strategies to overcome them. You also use the food diary to count your calories, and nutrition.

They cover a number of other topics, introducing some recent developments, such as the ORAC index of foods, which tells you which foods are the best anti-oxidants (Blueberries), and the idea of energy density, which has to do with eating foods which have few calories in a large volume of food.

Other topics include Exercise, Relaxation techniques, major Theories of Aging, and the balance between Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids.

For those who don't know, here's a synopsis of the CR (Calorie Restriction) movement:

In the 1930's, some researchers at Cornell discovered, by accident, that if you feed mice less than the normal amount, they live A LOT longer.

Further research indicated that if you feed them a diet very low in calories, but with complete nutrition (vitamins, minerals, etc.), the mice can live EVEN LONGER. In the most extreme situations, they can almost double the life span of mice.

Later, scientist started looking for a way to make a pill (or something) which would allow people to live longer. The only known way of making something live longer was to restrict it's calories, so they began to study caloric restriction. The idea was to make a pill which has effects similar to calroic restriction. This accomplished nothing fast.

Along comes Roy Walford of UCLA. Walford thinks the life extending pill is a great idea, but he's pretty sure it isn't going to be developed in our lifetime. Having a keen sense of the obvious, Walford recommends that people start practicing caloric restriction themselves. It works on every other species for which it has been tried, and it has the same biological effects on human cholesterol, blood pressure, etc. as it has on other species. WHY NOT???

By all means buy this book! While you're at it, pick up "The Anti-Aging Plan." Also, grab a copy of the Walford's free software at http://www.walford.com/software.htm .

45 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Simple steps to youthfulness without a lot of chemistry!, August 14, 2005

By	John T. Philips (Detroit, MI) - See all my reviews

I've been looking for a book like this for a long time. Calorie restriction - which the authors are also referring to as "the longevity diet" - is the only way of slowing the aging process and becoming more youthful (at least so far!). I had been hearing about the diet for a long time, but it always seemed too extreme. CBS had a special calling it The Starvation Diet: "it will help you live 30-40 more years, but would you really want to?" But Walford and Delaney explain that the diet can be followed in less extreme forms, and they present a lot of evidence (without blinding me with science) that milder versions of the diet have extraordinary benefits as well.
The second section of the book explains how the diet works in practice. I've already tried some of the recipes and suggestions. The "CR" phenomenon really isn't that complicated. The book explains how you can sort of "ease into" the diet, taking it to whatever level you want. There are no weird quantities of fat or protein, no complicated supplements or seaweed from distant parts of the planet: just common sense eating informed by science.
My only disappointment was that there wasn't more discussion of non-dietary findings in anti-aging research. They explain the science of CR so lucidly, I'd want to see more from their pens about related matters. Maybe that will come in the next book.

I'm already losing weight and feeling better. I probably won't take the diet to an extreme, but having the book around keeps my motivated.

58 of 61 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book to motivate you to eat less, February 1, 2006

By	O. Brown "Ms. O. Khannah-Brown" (Twopeas, WA) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

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*****
I really liked everything about this book: the personal stories, the simple explanations, the research-based (not hype-based) nutritional advice. Basically, the Longevity Diet can be summed up as eating less overall, and coping with hunger by eating better quality food so that you don't experience malnutrition and food cravings. The value of buying the book is that when you're done reading it, you feel more MOTIVATED to do this.

I am very familiar with current nutritional research, and appreciate having a concise summary of timely information like this book. Another great thing about it is that it's very, very flexible, encouraging you to listen to your body and to find a way of eating that is right for you. It gives, in the personal examples, illustrations of how people apply the diet so that you can see how to customize healthy eating to fit your lifestyle.

Although you will lose weight, the orientation of the book is primarily on being healthy and living a long, high-quality life.

At one point in The Longevity Diet, it makes the point that many people will choose to continue eating to excess because it is what they enjoy, and it is the quality of life they choose to make their life meaningful; they also state that this is a valid choice, and do not make people who take this path "wrong". This book, however, is for those of us who have tried eating to excess, have tried being obese, have experienced food cravings, and want something different and doable. I would give this book my highest recommendation, and think that everyone should understand the information in it, then make a choice that works for them!
*****