According to the CDC, the 10 leading causes of death in the United States in 2002 were:

1. 696,447 Heart Disease
2. 557,197 Malignant Neoplasms (i.e. cancer)
3. 162,555 Cerebrovascular disease
4. 124,777 Chronic Low. Respiratory Disease
5. 105,796 Unintentional Injury (Accidents)
6. 73,248 Diabetes Mellitus
7. 65,418 Influenza & Pneumonia
8. 58,866 Alzheimer's disease
9. 40,801 Nephritis
10. 33,569 Septicemia

(out of a total population of 283,974,000 people in the U.S. at least 1 year old)

All else being equal, calorie restriction can have a powerful impact in reducing all of these calamities except Unintentional Injury (accidents).

Calorie Restriction with Optimum Nutrition: Introduction

Calorie Restriction with Optimum Nutrition, or CRON, is an acronym given to a diet -- and a lifestyle -- by doctor and UCLA professor of pathology, Roy L. Walford. Walford's experiments, building on research conducted since the 1930's, confirm that laboratory animals whose calories -- not nutrition -- have been reduced increases both average and maximum lifespan. Walford began his experiments in the 1960s. Since then, other scientists (e.g., Weindruch and Spindler) have come to similar conclusions -- the primary conclusion being: Calorie Restriction is the only proven, research-backed technique currently known to science which extends lifespan and ones "healthy years".

What about humans? Calorie restriction has been proven for all types of living things: from microorganisms, cats, dogs, cattle and, more recently, primates. The only official (controlled) human study was conducted back in the early 1990s inside Biosphere 2 -- a giant, sealed greenhouse in Arizona (image on left). Walford, the official Biosphere 2 physician, and seven colleagues, participated in this project. For two years, the crew lived inside the hermetically enclosed structure, farming for a living. Serendipitously, the crew could not grow enough plant food to support a standard diet. Despite having less to eat, the quality of the diet was optimum: rich in vegetables; devoid of "junk" and processed foods. The results gained from the CRON diet was remarkable. Important "biomarkers" of aging, such as cholesterol and blood pressure, had improved significantly. These results indicate that several of the effects of CRONing apply to humans just as they do for lab animals.

What other human studies are there? None as extensive, nor done with the same level of control as in the Biosphere project. However, "uncontrolled" experiments (empirical reports) have revealed that Okinawans, who consume only 70 percent of the calories of their neighboring Japanese mainlanders have, among their number, "up to 40 times as many centenarians as their countrymen." Recently, a remarkable new study, -- which several volunteers participated in at Washington University, St. Louis, -- concluded calorie restriction reduces risk of heart attack, stroke and diabetes. [Continued]

Currently, calorierestriction.org is constructing an official report by studying a much larger sample of humans who are privately practicing calorie restriction (CR). If you practice calorie restriction and have had medical records documenting your progress, please visit this all-important site for instructions in how to participate.

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