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Shopping for lunch at the Whole Foods market in Boulder, Ann Cantelow
surveys the lineup in the deli case like a surfer waiting for the perfect
wave.
Cheese
quesadillas. Pass. Tortellini. No thanks. Tuna salad. Unh-uh. Potato
latkes. Not a chance.
Slowly, she
sidles along. Salmon fillets. Possibly. Lime-flavored chicken. Maybe.
Brussels sprouts. Perhaps. Couscous with feta and grapes. Well, on
occasion.
Finally, running
out of low-calorie choices, she settles on a kale and seaweed salad, a
leafy deluge of green with a hidden cache of B vitamins.
"There are so
many things that taste great like that," she says. "It helps you skip over
the others."
Flavor is only
one item on this 54-year-old's daily menu. The main requirement is that
food be packed with nutrients, because every mouthful counts when you're
trying to limit your daily intake to 1,400 calories - roughly 40 percent
of the typical American diet, and 30 percent below the current federal
guideline of about 2,000 calories.
Cantelow, a
Boulder software programmer, is one of a growing number of Americans who
are on a very low-calorie diet in hopes of living longer - or at least
better.
As a weight-loss
strategy, calorie restriction can leave people looking almost as gaunt as
fashion models. And for those who take it too far, especially youth, it
can cause serious health problems.
But as a
lifestyle, it got a big boost last week with the publication of a study
showing it can have "profound and sustained beneficial effects" -
including the potential for a greater life span.
The study,
published online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,
found that people can significantly reduce their odds of dying of heart
disease and other major killers - and extend their longevity - by
dramatically cutting calorie consumption.
While research
is ongoing into the health effects of CR, the information released last
week was the first confirmation in humans of a phenomenon already detected
in laboratory studies involving rats, mice and other creatures.
"It's very
exciting," says Warren Taylor, 58, a former aerospace engineer who is
national secretary of the California-based Calorie Restriction Society,
which claims 2,000 members. "It solves the problems of progressive and
degenerative diseases, but that's nothing compared to adding 10 or 15
years to my lifetime."
Cantelow, who
embraced calorie restriction two years ago, eats a lot of fish, green
vegetables, nuts and berries, but almost no breads or pastas - which are
comparatively high in calories for the amount of nutrition they
contain.
"I try to get
all the RDA (recommended daily allowance) of
vitamins and minerals, and
it's kind of hard to do without grains," she says.
For breakfast,
for example, she stir-fries an onion with collard greens in walnut oil.
Bizarre? Maybe, but it's no stranger than cold pizza, she insists, and "it
gets you one-third of your nutrition for the day, plus extra
calcium."
For lunch,
she'll pile a bowl full of colorful vegetables with a little tofu and
dried fruit. For dinner, she'll prepare something like broiled halibut
with broccoli and mushrooms, topped with walnuts.
Sure, she gets
hungry sometimes.
"And it's kind
of a pain," she admits. "But then, I see it as a sign that I'm on the
right track."
Like other
CRONies (for calorie restriction with optimal nutrition), Cantelow has
lost weight: about 40 pounds so far. She's now carrying about 143 pounds
on her 5-foot-7 frame, her dress size has dropped from a 20 to a 14, and
her waist has shrunk from 38 inches to 32.
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