Low-carb and ageing

Hi folks,

I thought I would post this as an encouragement to the low-carb
community.

I used to post here regularly a few years ago. I'm a long time low-
carber having been doing it since 1999.

I low-carb for well-being and energy not weight loss (I;m one of those
lucky can't-help-being-thin people). I do it on the basis that it is
anthropologically more correct than what dieticians and governments
tend to recommend (they tend to recommend diets more suited to fruit-
eating tree monkeys than hunter-gatherers). I'm not strict though I
hate the next day's unshakeable tiredness caused by eating too many
carbs so I lean towards caution. I reckon I probably eat varying
between 30 and 100 gms of carbs daily, including some sugar (very dark
chocolate) but otherwise sticking to saccarin and some splenda.

In addition to general low-carbing I avoid polyunsaturates/margarines,
and I eat kidney and liver, which as you might know is the single most
nutritious thing you can eat, and if you don't over-cook it, as anglo-
saxons usually do, is jolly tasty.

When I was 17 (about 1989) I read an article in a science mag about
low-carbing extending the life of mice by about 30%. That is a little
bit less than the extension caused by calorie restriction, but without
the pain. I am now 35, in case you were about to do the arithmetic.
I've been a smoker since I was 18, and I have some smokers lines to
vouch for it, although they aren't so deep. I recently stopped smoking
in case anyone was thinking of replying with a lecture (and then
again, perhaps I haven't. he he).

Despite my smoking I have nevertheless seemed to have retained a
fairly yourthful appearance which I am convinced is due to low-
carbing. About a year ago I was in New York (I live in England) and
had the shocking experience of being asked for ID in a wine shop.
Perhaps that was just caution on the part of the wine-seller.
Yesterday my brother told me that due to some confusion on the part of
a visitor it was necessary for the visitor to describe me. The
individual described me as being 21!!!! She had met me in a brief
conversation of a few minutes outdoors in the cold light of day.

In addition to that is further evidence this time coming from my Dad.
He is 63. I convnced him to low-carb about 3 years ago because he
suffers from colds frequently and heavily. His colds dried up. He has
had 1 heavy cold in the last 3 years, which is about the same rate as
I experience. Now here is the bit you want to hear : a friend
commented that since my dad began low-carbing he had visibly grown
younger in appearance. She had only met him once before, and her
comment came two years after he commenced low-carbing. For a once-only
meeting that effect must have been quite striking. Since then he has
somewhat reverted to carbs due to the italian influence of my step-
mother.

Unlike my dad I do some other things that may have had an affect on my
appearance over the years. So maybe it isn't just low-carbing. In my
case I also rarely expose my face to the sun as I like to wear wide-
brimmed, old-fashioned gentleman's straw hats instead of sun-glasses.
I also almost never wash my face, never soap, sometimes warm water.
And I eat plenty of saturated animal fat, which isn't a compulsory
part of the low-carb way. However my smoking may have compensated for
that.

So there you are. I hope my anecdote encourages some of you.

Greg Lorriman

On Mar 5, 8:38 pm, "Greg Lorriman" wrote:
Hi folks,

I thought I would post this as an encouragement to the low-carb
community.

I used to post here regularly a few years ago. I'm a long time low-
carber having been doing it since 1999.

I low-carb for well-being and energy not weight loss (I;m one of those
lucky can't-help-being-thin people). I do it on the basis that it is
anthropologically more correct than what dieticians and governments
tend to recommend (they tend to recommend diets more suited to fruit-
eating tree monkeys than hunter-gatherers). I'm not strict though I
hate the next day's unshakeable tiredness caused by eating too many
carbs so I lean towards caution. I reckon I probably eat varying
between 30 and 100 gms of carbs daily, including some sugar (very dark
chocolate) but otherwise sticking to saccarin and some splenda.

In addition to general low-carbing I avoid polyunsaturates/margarines,
and I eat kidney and liver, which as you might know is the single most
nutritious thing you can eat, and if you don't over-cook it, as anglo-
saxons usually do, is jolly tasty.

When I was 17 (about 1989) I read an article in a science mag about
low-carbing extending the life of mice by about 30%. That is a little
bit less than the extension caused by calorie restriction, but without
the pain. I am now 35, in case you were about to do the arithmetic.
I've been a smoker since I was 18, and I have some smokers lines to
vouch for it, although they aren't so deep. I recently stopped smoking
in case anyone was thinking of replying with a lecture (and then
again, perhaps I haven't. he he).

Despite my smoking I have nevertheless seemed to have retained a
fairly yourthful appearance which I am convinced is due to low-
carbing. About a year ago I was in New York (I live in England) and
had the shocking experience of being asked for ID in a wine shop.
Perhaps that was just caution on the part of the wine-seller.
Yesterday my brother told me that due to some confusion on the part of
a visitor it was necessary for the visitor to describe me. The
individual described me as being 21!!!! She had met me in a brief
conversation of a few minutes outdoors in the cold light of day.

In addition to that is further evidence this time coming from my Dad.
He is 63. I convnced him to low-carb about 3 years ago because he
suffers from colds frequently and heavily. His colds dried up. He has
had 1 heavy cold in the last 3 years, which is about the same rate as
I experience. Now here is the bit you want to hear : a friend
commented that since my dad began low-carbing he had visibly grown
younger in appearance. She had only met him once before, and her
comment came two years after he commenced low-carbing. For a once-only
meeting that effect must have been quite striking. Since then he has
somewhat reverted to carbs due to the italian influence of my step-
mother.

Unlike my dad I do some other things that may have had an affect on my
appearance over the years. So maybe it isn't just low-carbing. In my
case I also rarely expose my face to the sun as I like to wear wide-
brimmed, old-fashioned gentleman's straw hats instead of sun-glasses.
I also almost never wash my face, never soap, sometimes warm water.
And I eat plenty of saturated animal fat, which isn't a compulsory
part of the low-carb way. However my smoking may have compensated for
that.

So there you are. I hope my anecdote encourages some of you.

Greg Lorriman

Youthful appearance on the Atkins diet is no accident. Fat is a major
component of the diet, and fat makes the skin pliable and healthy
looking.

Atkins is, essentially, the diet we were designed to eat by nature.
Our bodies were not meant to consume high levels of sugar, white
flour, and pasta.

j3777 wrote:
:: On Mar 5, 8:38 pm, "Greg Lorriman" wrote:
::: Hi folks,
:::
::: I thought I would post this as an encouragement to the low-carb
::: community.
:::
::: I used to post here regularly a few years ago. I'm a long time low-
::: carber having been doing it since 1999.
:::
::: I low-carb for well-being and energy not weight loss (I;m one of
::: those lucky can't-help-being-thin people). I do it on the basis
::: that it is anthropologically more correct than what dieticians and
::: governments tend to recommend (they tend to recommend diets more
::: suited to fruit- eating tree monkeys than hunter-gatherers). I'm
::: not strict though I hate the next day's unshakeable tiredness
::: caused by eating too many carbs so I lean towards caution. I reckon
::: I probably eat varying between 30 and 100 gms of carbs daily,
::: including some sugar (very dark chocolate) but otherwise sticking
::: to saccarin and some splenda.
:::
::: In addition to general low-carbing I avoid
::: polyunsaturates/margarines, and I eat kidney and liver, which as
::: you might know is the single most nutritious thing you can eat, and
::: if you don't over-cook it, as anglo- saxons usually do, is jolly
::: tasty.
:::
::: When I was 17 (about 1989) I read an article in a science mag about
::: low-carbing extending the life of mice by about 30%. That is a
::: little bit less than the extension caused by calorie restriction,
::: but without the pain. I am now 35, in case you were about to do the
::: arithmetic. I've been a smoker since I was 18, and I have some
::: smokers lines to vouch for it, although they aren't so deep. I
::: recently stopped smoking in case anyone was thinking of replying
::: with a lecture (and then again, perhaps I haven't. he he).
:::
::: Despite my smoking I have nevertheless seemed to have retained a
::: fairly yourthful appearance which I am convinced is due to low-
::: carbing. About a year ago I was in New York (I live in England) and
::: had the shocking experience of being asked for ID in a wine shop.
::: Perhaps that was just caution on the part of the wine-seller.
::: Yesterday my brother told me that due to some confusion on the part
::: of a visitor it was necessary for the visitor to describe me. The
::: individual described me as being 21!!!! She had met me in a brief
::: conversation of a few minutes outdoors in the cold light of day.
:::
::: In addition to that is further evidence this time coming from my
::: Dad. He is 63. I convnced him to low-carb about 3 years ago because
::: he suffers from colds frequently and heavily. His colds dried up.
::: He has had 1 heavy cold in the last 3 years, which is about the
::: same rate as I experience. Now here is the bit you want to hear : a
::: friend commented that since my dad began low-carbing he had visibly
::: grown younger in appearance. She had only met him once before, and
::: her comment came two years after he commenced low-carbing. For a
::: once-only meeting that effect must have been quite striking. Since
::: then he has somewhat reverted to carbs due to the italian influence
::: of my step- mother.
:::
::: Unlike my dad I do some other things that may have had an affect on
::: my appearance over the years. So maybe it isn't just low-carbing.
::: In my case I also rarely expose my face to the sun as I like to
::: wear wide- brimmed, old-fashioned gentleman's straw hats instead of
::: sun-glasses. I also almost never wash my face, never soap,
::: sometimes warm water. And I eat plenty of saturated animal fat,
::: which isn't a compulsory part of the low-carb way. However my
::: smoking may have compensated for that.
:::
::: So there you are. I hope my anecdote encourages some of you.
:::
::: Greg Lorriman
::
:: Youthful appearance on the Atkins diet is no accident. Fat is a major
:: component of the diet, and fat makes the skin pliable and healthy
:: looking.

So true!

::
:: Atkins is, essentially, the diet we were designed to eat by nature.
:: Our bodies were not meant to consume high levels of sugar, white
:: flour, and pasta.

Your thread caught my attention because I have been ID'd buying wine
twice in the past month. I will be 46 later this week, and at first I
thought maybe the merchants were being extra careful. But they told
me that I looked close enough to the borderline to be checked.

Whether or not it's low-carb or not, I don't know. Genes are partly
to thank. I also take fish oil and flaxseed oil, use olive oil daily,
get a lot of vegetables, and work out 5 times weekly. I get 20% of my
calories from carbs. If I had to guess I would say the oils combined
with the favorable genes are mainly to thank, although maintaining a
low weight contributes as well. I have the same weight today as when
I was 15 years old.

j3777 wrote:
On Mar 5, 8:38 pm, "Greg Lorriman" wrote:

Hi folks,

I thought I would post this as an encouragement to the low-carb
community.

I used to post here regularly a few years ago. I'm a long time low-
carber having been doing it since 1999.

I low-carb for well-being and energy not weight loss (I;m one of those
lucky can't-help-being-thin people). I do it on the basis that it is
anthropologically more correct than what dieticians and governments
tend to recommend (they tend to recommend diets more suited to fruit-
eating tree monkeys than hunter-gatherers). I'm not strict though I
hate the next day's unshakeable tiredness caused by eating too many
carbs so I lean towards caution. I reckon I probably eat varying
between 30 and 100 gms of carbs daily, including some sugar (very dark
chocolate) but otherwise sticking to saccarin and some splenda.

In addition to general low-carbing I avoid polyunsaturates/margarines,
and I eat kidney and liver, which as you might know is the single most
nutritious thing you can eat, and if you don't over-cook it, as anglo-
saxons usually do, is jolly tasty.

When I was 17 (about 1989) I read an article in a science mag about
low-carbing extending the life of mice by about 30%. That is a little
bit less than the extension caused by calorie restriction, but without
the pain. I am now 35, in case you were about to do the arithmetic.
I've been a smoker since I was 18, and I have some smokers lines to
vouch for it, although they aren't so deep. I recently stopped smoking
in case anyone was thinking of replying with a lecture (and then
again, perhaps I haven't. he he).

Despite my smoking I have nevertheless seemed to have retained a
fairly yourthful appearance which I am convinced is due to low-
carbing. About a year ago I was in New York (I live in England) and
had the shocking experience of being asked for ID in a wine shop.
Perhaps that was just caution on the part of the wine-seller.
Yesterday my brother told me that due to some confusion on the part of
a visitor it was necessary for the visitor to describe me. The
individual described me as being 21!!!! She had met me in a brief
conversation of a few minutes outdoors in the cold light of day.

I had an Uncle who lived on a farm. He was just a few years younger than
my father, but he looked half the age of my father.

Full hair, vs partly balk ; Dark curly hair vs gray, ; great skin vs OK
skin........

My Uncle didn't low carb and looked quite young.

Looking young isn't necessarily a validation of a way of eating that is
alleged to make you young.

If you had the other factors involved with looking young, you would.

It is useful to know individual results, but often, individual results
don't really prove anything. Because there are a lot of uncontrolled
variables, individual experiences are mostly not valid to verify claims
commonly attributed to them.

However, I enjoyed your experiences, and take them as partial indication
that whatever youthful appearances I have could be augmented by low
carb. But I am not going to count on it.

Jbuch wrote:

:: However, I enjoyed your experiences, and take them as partial
:: indication that whatever youthful appearances I have could be
:: augmented by low carb. But I am not going to count on it.

That's a good think, too, since you can't count on looking young anyway.
You can keep the weight under control, exercise, control stress, and eat
well & rest, and hope that you had some good genes. You gets what you gets.

Still, I believe fat in the diet helps skin, but I have no proof.

taddy wrote:

I have the same weight today as when
I was 15 years old.


Well, I think you have a common point with the original poster, here.
And it may be a big clue to finding why you don't seem to age

People who have *always* been slim get less wrinkles than the other
people (must be a simple gravity thing).
Weight variations can't be could for the skin , can they ?

Anyway, I'm not one of those lucky people :-) but reading your posts
reminded me of something.
A few years ago, I had to work in front of my computer for sevral days
in a row. Not Physically intensive, but I hadn't got any time to cook .
I Was eating whatever ap^pealed to me in the freezer.
And that was quite simple: only red meet semmed to be appealing.
So, for 3 days, I fed myself with coffee and beef cooked with senflower oil.
The 3rd day, I saw my face in the mirror and I had the strange sensation
that I was looking great. I concluded I was dellusional since I had
only a few hours of sleep. It couldn't be true.

Well, I finally got out of my house to go and show my work. And when I
arrived at the place where I had to expose my work, several people
spontaneously told me how good I was looking.
ANd one of the people said "wow, you look...younger!".
ANd that was true.

And the less funny thing is that the opposite story happened after a
carb loading . This time, I got "Are you ill? you look awfull" :-/




After several years of lowcarb, I slowly discovered that some food had a
really amazing effect on how I looked. For instance:

- fried lean beef
- cherry tomatoes
- pork
- strawberries
- raw sweet pepper with olive oil
- raw onions with olive oil
- very dark chocolate
- olives

If you told me I could only feed myself with these, I wouldn't mind at all.
I recall a summer where I was eating more than 2 kg (4 pounds) of
strawberries a day. It was really a really hot summer and the
strawberries where sooooo cheap.
Never lost weight so fast without feeling any hunger. Skin and hair
never were as good looking.


Well, I guess there really are things we are meant to eat due to genes

Huey

In the stores this month is a special edition of Scientific
American that focuses on diet and aging. Some of the
commentary in the articles got me to thinking about low
carb (duh).

So I offer the hypothesis that low carbing can help
against aging and that very low carbing can acheive most
of the benefits of caloric reduction without the constant
hunger. Note that some of what I write goes against my
long held stance that milder is better. Here's the deal:

Speculative hypothesis number 1)

The articles mention that one of the major contributors of
aging is increased insulin release and increased insulin
resistance. Caloric reduction is supposed to handle this
issue. Surprise, low carb with portion sizes that don't trigger
hunger also handle this issue. One issue down where low
carbing can acheive what caloric reduction does without the
hunger.

The articles also mention that T3 levels are correlated with
aging. Caloric reduction is supposed to handle this once
body weight falls to 10+% under ideal weight. The problem
is being under what your body thinks is its ideal weight leads
to hunger that doesn't stop until you've gained it back, even
though th elevel of that hunger might not be intense. Surprise,
studies of 20 gram carb intake for extended time show that
T3 output starts to drop after 2 weeks. Search enough and
you'll find that the time it takes to get the T3 to drop depends
on how much you have to lose so it's a lot longer than 2 weeks
for very heavy folks. This still adds up that using extended
Induction for a very long time doesn't trigger hunger but once
you no longer have 50+ pounds to lose also doesn't keep T3
high. Lower T3, slower aging. Extending or repeating
Induction as a fountain of youth.

Secondary speculation - Religions that encourage periodic
fasting think that short fasts are healthy. I think it's from
lowering carb consumption. I've already seen that fluctuating
carb intake week to week works better for a lot of people than
staying at a fixed level and that CKD diets work to lower fat.
Extending this suggests that going to the 20 gram level often
might work for longevity just as well as staying that low
constantly.

Extremely speculative hypothesis 2)

I think reduced T3 thyroid output is associated with longevity
and that it has more impact than the other mechanisms
suggested for caloric reduction. My chain of reasoning on
this idea is more nebulous but I still find it convincing.

Think of the "billion heartbeat" theory of mammal longevity.
For most mammal species their longest life expectancy is a
billion heartbeats. Larger species live longer because their
hearts beat slower. (Within a single species smaller breeds
live longer, larger breeds live shorter, but species to species
the theory works well). Humans are the raging exception to
this theory - For a human the billionth heartbeat tends to come
around age 40. Humans live 2-3 billion heartbeats and that is
much longer than other mammal species.

One reason humans live longer may be the influence of
culture on evolution - When grandparents can care for children
the adults can work on other projects and advance culture.
The longer lived human families are the better they can build
culture and that gives evolutionary pressure to live long lives.
It goes against the classic notion that once your kids can
handle life evolution is through with you that applies to nearly
all other species.

I have learned that dogs have 10 times the T3 thyroid level
in their blood that humans do. (I had a Shar Pei with
hypothyroid and her daily dose was 8 times my daily dose).
Dogs live around 1/7th as long as humans.

While I'm sure there is more to longevity than a low T3 thyroid
level, low T3 seems to help. Surprise, staying at 20 carb
grams for extended times causes T3 to drop.

I end up thinking that mild low carb is best for weight loss,
very low carb is best for longevity as long as you get enough
veggies to get plenty of vitamins and phytonutrients. Pass
the garlic and kale ...

Interesting, Doug!

Doug Freyburger wrote:
:: In the stores this month is a special edition of Scientific
:: American that focuses on diet and aging. Some of the
:: commentary in the articles got me to thinking about low
:: carb (duh).
::
:: So I offer the hypothesis that low carbing can help
:: against aging and that very low carbing can acheive most
:: of the benefits of caloric reduction without the constant
:: hunger. Note that some of what I write goes against my
:: long held stance that milder is better. Here's the deal:
::
:: Speculative hypothesis number 1)
::
:: The articles mention that one of the major contributors of
:: aging is increased insulin release and increased insulin
:: resistance. Caloric reduction is supposed to handle this
:: issue. Surprise, low carb with portion sizes that don't trigger
:: hunger also handle this issue. One issue down where low
:: carbing can acheive what caloric reduction does without the
:: hunger.
::
:: The articles also mention that T3 levels are correlated with
:: aging. Caloric reduction is supposed to handle this once
:: body weight falls to 10+% under ideal weight. The problem
:: is being under what your body thinks is its ideal weight leads
:: to hunger that doesn't stop until you've gained it back, even
:: though th elevel of that hunger might not be intense. Surprise,
:: studies of 20 gram carb intake for extended time show that
:: T3 output starts to drop after 2 weeks. Search enough and
:: you'll find that the time it takes to get the T3 to drop depends
:: on how much you have to lose so it's a lot longer than 2 weeks
:: for very heavy folks. This still adds up that using extended
:: Induction for a very long time doesn't trigger hunger but once
:: you no longer have 50+ pounds to lose also doesn't keep T3
:: high. Lower T3, slower aging. Extending or repeating
:: Induction as a fountain of youth.
::
:: Secondary speculation - Religions that encourage periodic
:: fasting think that short fasts are healthy. I think it's from
:: lowering carb consumption. I've already seen that fluctuating
:: carb intake week to week works better for a lot of people than
:: staying at a fixed level and that CKD diets work to lower fat.
:: Extending this suggests that going to the 20 gram level often
:: might work for longevity just as well as staying that low
:: constantly.
::
:: Extremely speculative hypothesis 2)
::
:: I think reduced T3 thyroid output is associated with longevity
:: and that it has more impact than the other mechanisms
:: suggested for caloric reduction. My chain of reasoning on
:: this idea is more nebulous but I still find it convincing.
::
:: Think of the "billion heartbeat" theory of mammal longevity.
:: For most mammal species their longest life expectancy is a
:: billion heartbeats. Larger species live longer because their
:: hearts beat slower. (Within a single species smaller breeds
:: live longer, larger breeds live shorter, but species to species
:: the theory works well). Humans are the raging exception to
:: this theory - For a human the billionth heartbeat tends to come
:: around age 40. Humans live 2-3 billion heartbeats and that is
:: much longer than other mammal species.
::
:: One reason humans live longer may be the influence of
:: culture on evolution - When grandparents can care for children
:: the adults can work on other projects and advance culture.
:: The longer lived human families are the better they can build
:: culture and that gives evolutionary pressure to live long lives.
:: It goes against the classic notion that once your kids can
:: handle life evolution is through with you that applies to nearly
:: all other species.
::
:: I have learned that dogs have 10 times the T3 thyroid level
:: in their blood that humans do. (I had a Shar Pei with
:: hypothyroid and her daily dose was 8 times my daily dose).
:: Dogs live around 1/7th as long as humans.
::
:: While I'm sure there is more to longevity than a low T3 thyroid
:: level, low T3 seems to help. Surprise, staying at 20 carb
:: grams for extended times causes T3 to drop.
::
:: I end up thinking that mild low carb is best for weight loss,
:: very low carb is best for longevity as long as you get enough
:: veggies to get plenty of vitamins and phytonutrients. Pass
:: the garlic and kale ...

"Roger Zoul" wrote:

Interesting, Doug!

So speculative I don't have any idea how to test the notions.

On other topcis I collect anecdotal evidence which isn't
scientifically valid but is available data and reach conclusions
based on that data. For specifics of low carbing effecting
longevity all I have going is people feeling better on Induction
and people reporting better hair and skin. Not nearly good
enough for me to form even they type of conclusions I make,
ones that need real study to check.