Limiting your calories will make you live longer.  “Both caloric (energy) restriction (CR) and reduced meal frequency/intermittent fasting can suppress the development of various diseases and can increase life span in rodents….” [1]  The mechanism by which this occurs is also mimicked by a compound called Resveratrol, which is found in red wine and red grapes. Until resveratrol is approved for prescribing, in 5 years possibly, maybe only reducing calories should be used to increase longevity by this mechanism. Here is the great video showing how calorie restriction and resveratrol increase longevity.

How much wine will it take to live longer?

Well, before you go buy a bunch of red wine, the researcher says it’ll take 1000 bottles per day to do any good with resveratrol.  Notice also, that one cup of red grapes has the same amount of resveratrol as a glass of red wine.

So, you’ve got a reason to get drunk everyday…or start the Paleolithic Diet to easily and naturally reduce your caloric intake.

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[1] Mattson MP (2005). “Energy intake, meal frequency, and health: a neurobiological perspective”. Annual Review of Nutrition. 25: 237–60.

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Need another reason love the Paleolithic Diet?  How about reducing the risk of multiple sclerosis (MS) and other auto-immune diseases?  I ran across the following videos on YouTube and found them fascinating.  There has long been associations of certain foods with higher risk of MS, but this guy is actually doing the research and and tying the pieces together.

On October 3 2007 , Direct-MS (http://www.direct-ms.org ) sponsored a public presentation by Dr. Loren Cordain of Colorado State University on the topic of “The Paleo Diet and Multiple Sclerosis”. See below for the video and the YouTube playlist.

What you’ll get from this video (notes I took just now)

Genetics and Environment/Food both are linked with developing Multiple Sclerosis.

Dietary changes suggested for autoimmune benefit from the Paleolithic Diet:

• AVOID cereal grains (wheat, corn, etc), dairy (milk, cheese, pizza, etc), high-saturated fat meats (hot dogs, sausage, bacon, steak, etc), most vegetable oils,  tomatoes (surprising, even to the presenter), salt, refined sugars, legumes (beans, peas, etc), peanuts.
• INCREASE Omega-3 fatty acids relative to Omega-6 fatty acids
• Eat fruits, vegetables, lean meats, and nuts

Theory on Multiple Sclerosis development:

1. Bacterial infection occurs or we introduce Lectins into our diet
   Various lectins found in wheat, peanuts, legumes (beans), soybeans, and tomatoes get across the gut barrier and into circulation via EGF-R (epidermal growth factor).  Lectins or bacteria in circulation causes an immune response and activate T-Cells.
2. Immune Response T-Cells Activate (in circulation, but not in the CNS)
   T-Cells must be activated by an “adjuvant” in order to develop immunity.  Lectins like WGA (Wheat Germ Agglutinin) act as that adjuvant.
3. Activated T-Cells sneak across the Blood Brain Barrier (BBB) to get into the CNS
   Lectins are thought to cause breakdowns in the BBB to allow more T-Cells into the CNS to attack myelin.
   
4. Activated T-Cells attack myelin
   Lectins that have crossed the BBB have been shown to stimulate inflammatory cytokines which cause inflammation which damages myelin.  Since these T-Cells have been “programmed” to attack proteins similar to myelin (Lectins), they attack proteins in good myelin.

Dairy products are associated with MS.  He shows that dairy products have been repeatedly associated epidemiologically with developing diseases like Multiple Sclerosis.

Lastly, he presents anecdotal evidence of 4 MS patients who have improved in symptoms after strictly going on the Paleolithic Diet.

If I were to win the lottery, I’d love to help this guy with his research.

Amazingly, the Paleolithic Diet is not only an awesome way to get in great shape, but it’s also a way to optimize metabolism and optimize your immune system.  You automatically avoid many common allergens and reduce inflammation.

Done correctly, you can avoid a host of health problems and get tons of energy in the process.

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If you are finding this page from a search, then you probably are wanting to know what your BMI is so you can compare yourself to “normal”.  All you need to calculate your BMI is your height and weight.  Below is a free online BMI calculator written in C# and loaded via WordPress.  Just enter your height (in inches) and weight (in pounds) and you’ll get a BMI score.

After you get your BMI see below to determine where you are compared to “normal”.

BMI Chart Spreadsheet

If you don’t care what your exact BMI is to two decimal points, you can also use the free online BMI chart spreadsheet below.  Find your height and weight on the chart to estimate your BMI.    Just in case you want to see the formulas, you can download the bmi-chart-spreadsheet too.

(Click to Enlarge BMI Chart)

Next, you’ll want to see how you compare to “normal”.  Are you underweight, overweight, normal, or worse, OBESE?

What BMI is considered overweight or OBESE?

• Overweight: BMI between 25 and 29.9
• OBESE: BMI of 30 or higher

• “Underweight“: You are likely envied by everyone else on the chart, but being overly thin can be just as dangerous as being overweight.
• “Normal“: The BMI is considered a “rule of thumb” by most and if you are in this range, you’re overall weight isn’t necessarily a problem.
• “Overweight“: You are likely at more risk of many health problems and you need to get your weight down in a healthy way.
• “OBESE“: You’ve got problems with your weight right now and likely more problems with your health are on the way.

There are exceptions to this and any rule of thumb.  If you are worried about your BMI or it just doesn’t seem right, see your doctor.

BMI Formulas – How to Calculate BMI

If you use the chart or calculator above, you don’t need to calculate your BMI.  But just in case you want to, the generally accepted formula for calculating BMI is your weight divided by your height squared:

• American (Imperial) Units:  (Weight in pounds X 703 ) divided by (height in inches^2)

• Metric Units:  (Weight in Kilograms) divided by (height in meters^2)

There are other ways of calculating BMI for children and other groups of people.  The BMI calculation shown here is for a typical adult.

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Most Popular Obesity Statistic

According to a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), 65% of American adults are overweight [1].   Check the study yourself!

• 65% of adults were overweight
• 30% were considered OBESE
• 5% were considered extremely OBESE
• 16% of kids were overweight

Obesity Statistics Even Worse

Since the study above was published, obesity statistics got worse, according to the CDC [2]:

• 34% of American adults are OBESE
• 40% of men aged 40-59 are OBESE
• 61% of non-Hispanic black women 60 and older are OBESE

These are just some of the statistics I was amazed to read on the CDC’s site.  I don’t like it anymore than you do.

Obesity Statistics in Children

The following graph shows percentage of children who are overweight over time.  It is amazing to me how the percentage of overweight children has quadrupled in the last 30 years!  The definition of “overweight” was: “children with BMI values at or above the 95th percentile of the sex-specific BMI growth charts.” [3]

Data for this graph came from the CDC’s site [3].

Obesity Definition versus Overweight Definition

• Overweight: BMI between 25 and 29.9
• OBESE: BMI of 30 or higher

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[1]  Hedley A. A., Ogden C. L., Johnson C. L., Carroll M. D., Curtin L. R., Flegal K. M. (2004) Prevalence of overweight and obesity among US children, adolescents, and adults, 1999–2002. JAMA 291:2847–2850.

[2] Obesity Among Adults in the United States–No Statistically Significant Change Since 2003-2004. Data Brief Number 1, November 2007. 8 pp.

[3] National Health Examination Surveys II (ages 6-11) and III (ages 12-17), National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys I,II,III and 1999-2004, NCHS, CDC. (http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/pubs/pubd/hestats/overweight/overwght_child_03.htm#Table%201.)

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