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Challenge to Chess Champions: Improving Cognition

The CR Way — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

In his Neurobiology of Aging paper (2009), Dr. Timothy Salthouse* suggests that age-related cognitive decline starts in healthy educated adults when they are in their 20s or 30s. Support for Dr Salthouse's contention comes from one of the world's most demanding cognitive challenges, professional chess. Top level players, who are rated according to their tournament results by international governing federations, are becoming younger and younger.

In fact, Iceland's 19-year-old wunderkind Magnus Carlson is now the highest rated player in the world, surpassing both the 40-year-old world champion, Viswanathan Anand from India and his challenger Veselin Topalov, 34, of Bulgaria.

Should top chess players fold up their board and choose tiddlywinks after age 20?

Hardly: A huge body of scientific research points the way to improving and perhaps reversing age-related cognitive decline. The Getting Smarter section of this site contains many strategies that have been proven to work.

For example, glucose-hungry brain cells become challenged when circulating blood sugar drops to the 80s (mg/dl of blood) or below. Research shows that ketones, a safer form of energy than glucose, swing into action when this happens. This forces healthy neurons to go through an adaptation process, becoming more energy-efficient, actually generating more mitochondria, thus making energy production to power thinking capabilities easier to generate. (The Getting Smarter section on the left nav will give you more information on this. As you know, access to deeper parts of this site requires Longevity-Level membership.)

Under these conditions, new cells are formed in the hippocampus; and other areas of the brain - the substantia nigra, for example - are preserved. All this ultimately helps prevent and possibly even reverse cognitive decline.

Meanwhile, new research shows that when glucose availability drops, the neuroprotective and energy-sensitive gene SIRT1 is activated. This may help prevent and even shrink the amyloid plaque formation associated with Alzheimer's Disease.

So how can you use the CR Way^TMto improve brainpower? We provide more details in an open letter to the World Chess Champion and his challenger found in the Getting Smarter section of this website.

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Complimentary Copy of The CR Way!

The CR Way — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 20:22:00 GMT

Very shortly, we will welcome you to LivingTheCRWay.com as a members' site. Two levels of membership will be offered:

1 - Longevity Level Members

For just 16 cents a day, Longevity Level Members will gain access to The CR Way to Happy Dieting and the new online resource: The CR Way to Optimal Performance. Based on 40 years of research, The CR Way to Optimal Performance introduces a new way to use food and lifestyle to increase both productivity at work and relaxation.

For those who recently subscribed, your subscription will be expanded to the Longevity-Level Membership for the balance of your subscription, plus an additional complimentary month. For those whose membership has expired, you will be given a one-month complimentary Longevity-Level Membership. After that, you can renew your membership for just 16 cents a day.

Full-year subscriptions will receive a free copy of The CR Way and be welcomed to join free teleconferences held every two weeks.

2 - Healthy Start Members

The Healthy Start Membership is free. Join and gain access to the popular blog, science sections, and other select content. Plus: We will notify you about events at the CR Way^T Longevity Center and upcoming CR research studies.

The new membership levels of the site will create a unique Web community whose members will support each other, so we all live longer and better.

For this transition, LivingTheCRWay.com will be inaccessible for a couple of days. We will let you know here when it is back live. See you soon!

The CR Way Community

The CR Way — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 18:11:19 GMT

If you want to improve any aspect of your health, being part of a support group greatly increases your chances of success. For example, we all know about well organized, venerated programs like Weight Watchers or Alcoholics Anonymous that have proved that over time meeting with one's peers can produce excellent results. Having a support group also seems important for longevity. In his excellent book, Blue Zones, Dan Buettner reported that having a social network was an important part of the lives of centenarians he studied -- whether in the U.S., Italy, Okinawa, or other parts of the world.

Apart from health benefits, just being together with others who share your passions for optimal living is an enriching, nurturing experience. So imagine how wonderful it was for us when Kathryn Gordon, who is also ardent about CR, met us at the San Francisco airport and helped us find lots of resources that we needed there. Kathryn is a smart, successful business woman, who like us is passionate about optimal health. We laughed and talked with her and enjoyed hiking with her from our hotel to Whole Foods where we put together a meal from the salad bar (the Fast Foods Meal Plan in The CR way to Happy Dieting zgives some suggestions on how to do this) and some of our own food we brought with us. We also had fun toasting the joy of being together with cinnamon-lemon tea, one of our new, favorite ways of lowering blood sugar.

Another outing with Kathryn was just as stimulating. We went with her to the Cliff House in San Francisco. The Cliff House, which offers beautiful views of the San Francisco Bay, is a restaurant and a fixture in San Francisco. The restaurant personnel was gracious and welcomed us to look around at the impressive vistas offered by their windows, but there was no need to sit around and eat to be sociable. We enjoyed walking and exploring and reveling in natural conversation that just seems to flow when CR folk get together.

We also met Nick Colby, Jeff Teeters and Barry Gamble, all long-term CR Society friends. Each is highly intelligent, talented and full of CR stories about the lifestyle we all practice.

All of these folks are more than casual acquaintances. We really care about them and had great fun talking with them. They actually represent another aspect of CR that is rapidly growing: COMMUNITY! There are now significant numbers of CR Way followers in many parts of the world and we are pushing to unite them into a close-knit community. In fact, this was one of the reasons we built The CR Way Longevity Center, so CR folks will have a place to enjoy being together.

We have already noticed that some wonderful relationships have evolved from CR get-togethers. New friends to be sure, and some folks have struck up long-term relationships. It is likely that more such relationships will develop since that's what happens when people who have so much in common come together.

Those who enjoy being part of The CR Way Community will be pleased to know that within days, Livingthecrway.com will become a member site. Here people will find unprecedented resources for making life better and, quite possibly, longer.

In addition to The CR Way to Happy Dieting, which has become a way of life for many folks who want to lose weight healthfully, Longevity Level members of the new site will gain access to a new resource - The CR Way to Optimal Performance.

Here, anyone who wants to overcome performance anxiety will find dietary and lifestyle strategies that will help. But overcoming anxiety is just the first step. We all want to be winners in whatever we choose to do. So The CR Way to Optimal Performance will show people how to combine positive biochemistry with protocols to do your best, whether you are competing in the Olympics or trading stocks.

Other new routines for cognitive improvement, gaining and maintaining weight healthfully, and preventing osteoporosis will soon become available. We will also announce new CR studies, which we hope will inspire many to make the most of CR science by applying new findings to their lives.

CRONA - Exciting New Research in the Planning

The CR Way — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 12:00:38 GMT

On February 18^th, we participated in a CRONA (Calorie Restriction with Optimal Nutrition and Aging) planning meeting at the University of California, San Francisco. CRONA is an extensive research project headed by Drs. Elizabeth Blackburn, Anne Brunet, Elissa Epel, Pankaj Kapahi, Cynthia Kenyon, Jue Lin. Eric Verdin. The hyperlinks provide information about significant contributions these individuals have made to longevity research.

On the morning of the 18^th, Paul present to this group about the differences between calorie restriction in animals and in humans and the additional research challenges that humans present. The research will look at cell signals associated with aging and consider how calorie restrictors might, through diet and lifestyle, activate or protect against deactivating these pathways. The presentation was made with utmost humility and gratitude, for many of the scientists present are the very researchers who discovered the science being presented - and that we live!

If you would like to be a donor to this project, now is the time. On Thursday afternoon, the scientists and we welcomed donors of $1000 or more to join us at UC San Francisco for a question-and-answer session. We were also available to answer personal questions about lifestyle and regimen and how it may activate cell signaling that has been discovered by these very researchers.

Our initial goal is to raise $100,000, which will be used to fund a pilot study to provide data for an NIH grant application for a big - 5.2 million dollar - project, running over 3 years.

To donate, start by sending an e-mail message to Meredith@LivingTheCRWay.com. We will make it easy for you. Thank you all for your interest!

The NutriBase CR Way Edition software

The CR Way — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 22:00:00 GMT

Take the guesswork out of healthy living

Imagine trying to drive a car without a steering wheel. The chances of getting where you want to go are virtually nil. The same is true for managing a healthy lifestyle - dietary software is the steering wheel. This leaves little to chance. In fact, we attribute much of our extraordinary health to tracking our diet, exercise, and the outcomes with NutriBase, the most accurate and full-featured nutrition and fitness software available.

NutriBase is widely used by people who want precision and accuracy - including health and fitness professionals. As The CR Way^TMdeveloped into a worldwide movement - we realized that people following the lifestyle, and anyone else who wants to live as healthfully as possible, need a sophisticated way to track what they are doing. This prompted us to work with NutriBase to develop a program that sets the standard for managing a healthy lifestyle: The NutriBase CR Way Edition.

We originally became aware of NutriBase when we needed software to use for the CR Society's "Effects of CR on Humans" Pilot Study that preceded the "Long-term Effects of CR on Humans" studies at the School of Medicine at Washington University in Saint Louis. Out of all its competitors NutriBase was chosen because of its advanced functionality and accuracy. Since then we've worked with NutriBase to create the NutriBase CR Way Edition and price it affordably. This groundbreaking software downloads to a home computer, giving dieters tools to immediately take control of their life

If you need to lose weight, you can enter your weight-loss goals into the program and it will calculate a healthful number of pounds to lose each week and the appropriate calorie intake to achieve your goal. The software comes loaded with recipes that improve mood, empowering you to leave unhealthful comfort foods behind.

The NutriBase CR Way Edition's extensive tracking capabilities eliminate guesswork that leads to unhealthful outcomes. It makes tracking easy - recording weight as well as calorie and nutrient intake, including fatty acids and phytochemicals. You can also track exercise, glucose levels, heart health, and even mood. The best way to know how your diet affects you? Use the software regularly and test routinely with your health professional.

Why go to the trouble of entering your diet online when the NutriBase CR Way Edition downloads to your computer in minutes, making it easy to achieve your goals? And you own your data.

BUY NOW!

Setting goals for 2010

The CR Way — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 11:10:45 GMT

We received an interesting survey over the weekend. It looked at the best way for people to implement a new diet. By far, the most effective was for people to make a list of their goals and what they intend to do to achieve them.

Impressed by the success rate, we decided to create a new opportunity for CR Way to Happy Dieting subscribers. We invite you to send us your dieting goals and how you plan to achieve them. We will look at them and provide comments at the next teleconference, which is scheduled for Sunday, January 24^th at 1:00 pm.

Besides talking about the best ways to lose weight, we discuss many other topics at the teleconferences - from lowering blood glucose to improving cognitive function and slowing aging. You can choose to listen or take part in the discussion. It's up to you.

Make a positive change - Join us at the next teleconference!

Contact Meredith@livingthecrway.com for the call-in and access numbers.

Reversing age-related Declines

The CR Way — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 08:56:47 GMT

We are often seen in media reports, showing people how to start a healthy low-calorie diet, which we welcome as part of our mission. But for those who want the best chance to be part of a utopian future, we have some important news: The opportunity to reverse or slow many age-related declines that are considered inevitable is here now.

From the nano level of nutrition and exercise effects on molecules to the holistic results of meditation - we can affect how we live, how well we live, and probably how long we live in our current human form. This can be achieved with The CR Way, a human-friendly mode of calorie restriction, which has been proven to extend life, prevent disease, and improve functionality.

When we began our CR quest in 1994, in our mid-forties, there were many opinions on optimal practice of calorie restriction: Debates raged on the Calorie Restriction Society listserve: High protein - low protein? Which supplements? How much exercise? How many calories? - confusion reigned.

Physical Transformation

At first, we just wanted to apply basic CR research to our lives. But as our success grew, we wanted more: to slow, prevent, and even reverse age-related declines. That was asking a lot, because no humans had ever proven that that was possible.

Fortunately, ground-breaking science helped us find the way. New research revealed that CR activates an ancient biological defense system that shifts the emphasis from cell proliferation to maintenance by more effective cellular function. Activating this system became an important tenet of The CR Way.

Applying the new science to diet and lifestyle required clinical results for every important choice we made. So we committed to regular checks of every aspect of our health by a superb team of physicians, specialists in every discipline - endocrinology, immunology, gastroenterology, for example. Leading the way was our internist, a calorie restrictor himself, and an extraordinary physician.

But we needed CR scientists to get involved and so did all the other humans, attempting CR - for hardly any human calorie restriction research was available for guidance. So we were lucky to find Luigi Fontana and John Holloszy at the School of Medicine at Washington University in St. Louis. Dr. Holloszy had been studying exercise physiology for decades and had designed and equipped the "perfect" lab for testing humans. Dr. Fontana had explored metabolism in his Ph.D. research and was especially interested in nutrition. Both physicians preferred to study human subjects than other lab animals. They wanted to test whether people would get the same benefit from CR as the research mammals. This matched our interests exactly. Thus, the first longitudinal research project on human beings was born. (http://www.calorierestriction.org/ResearchOnAging).

Much was achieved. Fontana and Holloszy first honed in, for example, on key markers of cardiovascular aging, reporting in the peer-reviewed literature that the hearts and arteries of the CR cohort functioned like those of much younger people.

Now, with expert guidance, we were able to set our own personal standards for "aging" health that may seem like science fiction:

. Heart function - age-related loss of cells slows, blood pressure is 98/62 or lower.

. Arterial plaque accumulation remains static or reverses.

. Muscle strength maintains or increases with no lasting soreness or pain from exertion - age-related cell loss slows.

. Cellular energy production increases.

. Immune function increases - quick reaction to immune challenges; inflammation markers at lowest end of reference range.

. Risk of heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and Alzheimer's disease lowers.

. Youthful hormone secretion ability preserved.

. Stronger skeletal system - bone density increases gradually with likely stronger matrix.

Cognitive Transformation

When in our fifties, we were happy that the physiological transformation of our bodies was on track. But perhaps the most difficult goal to achieve was elusive: Increase in cognitive capabilities was still not happening. We wondered if we had mined caloric restriction for all that it is worth.

Fortunately, Mark Mattson, Chief of the NIH Laboratory of Neurosciences came to the rescue with an astounding new study: Time away from food (fasting) proved to be better than caloric restriction for increasing neurogenesis in the hippocampus.

A key biochemical difference between caloric restriction and fasting: production of ketones! When glucose drops - the brain, which relies heavily on glucose for function, switches to using ketones, byproducts of carbohydrate, fat, and protein breakdown. Yet, standard ketogenic diets, consisting of high fat and protein, are heart-attack garbage: You might die early, while trying to improve your brain.

Undaunted, we developed a new, heretical ketogenic diet - based on heart-friendly fats and complex carbohydrates and better utilization of insulin. And we cut our daily number of meals from 3 to two, dubbing our new method of CR daily limited fasting. Further, we used our knowledge of physiology to develop a glucose-lowering protocol that could quickly produce the biochemistry seen in Mattson's study. Rather than rely solely on time away from food, we chose to limit calories as well - taking advantage of the best of both regimens. Now, a daily influx of brain-building biochemistry was possible.

Within weeks, as if by magic, profound changes began to take place. Mental powers thought permanently diminished, began to get better: short- and long-term memory, conceptual abilities, multitasking, and exact calculation. And it showed up everywhere: Conceptual writing, developing a successful Internet business, leading genetic testing and research, winning chess tournaments - so many things we wanted to do became possible.

And the new ketogenic emphasis seemed to potentiate CR effects throughout our bodies with better measures on every parameter than our standard CR practice had produced.

Psychological Transformation

A much longer, healthier life isn't worthwhile unless it is happy and fulfilling. What is not generally known about happiness is that it can be greatly affected by food and lifestyle choices - So much so that the focus of The CR Way to Happy Dieting, the online resource that is part of the benefits for Longevity-Level members, is orchestrating diet and lifestyle for happiness.

May The CR Way help you join a Utopian future or perhaps begin to live it right now!

Teleconference: Saturday December 26

The CR Way — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 14:19:00 GMT

Happy Holiday Season!

We will hold the next
CR Way to Happy Dieting teleconference on
Saturday, December 26
at 1:00 pm, EST

To join the group, send a note to Meredith, e-mail address below,

and she will respond with the call-in and access numbers.

If you have questions or issues that you'd like to explore on the call,

please e-mail them to us, too, at the address below.

We look forward to hearing your voices!

Paul & Meredith

meredith@livingthecrway.com

Exercise, cancer and p53

The CR Way — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 22:02:00 GMT

A friend on Facebook, an extremely perceptive gentleman, wanted to know more about exercise, p53 the cellular cancer sentry that is responsible for killing mutant cells, and their relationship to cancer and aging cited one of my favorite studies that clarifies the relationship between exercise, p53 and IGF-I.

Epidemiological studies show that exercise reduces the risk of prostate cancer. It does so by upregulating p53 while downregulating IGF-I, a hormone that drives growth and preserves cell life. During exercise, the body logically upregulates p53 to kill mutant cells ( apoptosis) , while it downregulates IGF-I so its cell preservation actions do not conflict with the apoptotic action of p53. Here is the study cited:

Exercise alters the IGF axis in vivo and increases p53 protein in prostate tumor cells in vitro.

Journal of Applied Physiology. 2004 Feb;96(2):450-4.
Leung PS, et al.

Epidemiological studies report that regular physical activity can reduce the risk for prostate cancer, the most common solid-tumor cancer in US men. Regular exercise alters the serum IGF axis in vivo and reduces cell proliferation while increasing apoptosis in serum-stimulated LNCaP prostate cancer cells in vitro. The present study tests the hypothesis that these effects on tumor cell lines are mediated by enhancement of the function of the p53 gene known to arrest cell growth and induce apoptosis. When LNCaP cells were cultured in exercise serum and compared with control serum, cell growth was reduced by 27%, and there was a similar 33% decrease in proliferating cell nuclear antigen protein, a marker for cell cycling. Apoptosis was increased by 371% with the exercise serum, and there was a 100% increase in p53 protein (75.2 +/- 2.0 vs. 38.2 +/- 2.0 pg/microg protein). When serum was used to stimulate LN-56 cells, a cell line with nonfunctional p53 derived from LNCaP, no significant reduction in cell growth or increase in apoptosis with the exercise serum was observed. These results indicate that exercise training alters serum factors in vivo that increase cellular p53 protein content and is associated with reduced growth and induced apoptosis in LNCaP prostate cancer cells in vitro.

PMID: 14715676

See the complete study here: http://jap.physiology.org/cgi/content/abstract/96/2/450

The good news is that by following the CR Way, IGF-I is naturally lowered - in line with CR'ed animal studies showing that dietary lowering of IGF-I protects against cancer and extends life. For more, see many entries in The CR Way and the following this blog post:
http://www.livingthecrway.com/home/blog/08-09-24/IGF-I_and_Its_Importance_in_Calorie_Restriction.aspx��

When IGF-I is lowered by diet, p53 may not be needed as much. In fact, the raising p53 with lots of exercise is probably a bad idea. Transgenic mice with increased expression of p53 were found to experience accelerated aging.

Tumor suppression by p53 without accelerated aging: just enough of a good thing?

Cell Cycle. 2006 Apr;5(7):714-7.
Mendrysa, et al

The prevalence of mutations that inactivate the p53 tumor suppressor gene in human cancers reveals the importance of p53 in preventing cancer. Recent progress has generated increased enthusiasm for re-activating p53 in tumors with mutant p53 proteins as well as for increasing p53 function in tumors expressing wild-type p53 that is inhibited in trans. However, excessive p53 activity can be detrimental to the host, potentially limiting the utility of p53 activation as a therapeutic strategy. For example, uncontrolled p53 activity is lethal to the murine embryo, and p53 has been associated with increased aging in people and mice. Here we review the literature linking p53 to aging and discuss reports demonstrating that p53 can suppress tumor formation without accelerating aging. We raise the possibility that activation of p53 remains a promising strategy for cancer chemoprevention and therapy even if, under some circumstances, p53 might accelerate aging.

PMID: 16582632Cell Cycle. 2006 Apr;5(7):714-7.

Greg's Phenomenal Results

The CR Way — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 13:47:14 GMT

We are thrilled to report the life-changing results gained by our friend, Greg, from the UK. Paul started corresponding with him several months ago. At that time, it became clear that Greg had several foods in his diet that were not optimal. He also probably was exercising too much to activate CR biochemistry.

Rather than say "Don't do this" and "Don't do that," Paul just introduced basic CR Way principles to Greg and let him proceed in a way that was natural for him.

Greg was smart: He tested his biomarkers regularly (see CR Way Benchmarks Panel, p. 145), making sure that his dietary changes had the desired effect. And, perhaps most important, he did not try to make huge dietary changes right at first. Rather, he moved at his own pace, letting go of certain foods when he was ready. This is so important: The CR Way is most effective when people design a CR program that works for them - that they can stick with. The "CR As You Like It" chapter can be a place to start.

Greg was kind enough to give permission to share his results:

�

�	Start 1/16/09	Now 11/5/09	Change
Weight��	170 lbs��	141.5 lbs	�
This is a perfect weight. Thinner is not better.
�Lower body fat	21.4%	14.0%	down 7.0%
�Upper body fat	23.3%	14.9%	down 8.6%
Upper body fat	36.6 lbs	22.1 lbs	down 14.5 lbs.�� (Impedance measurement)
�BMI	26.2	21.8	down 4.4
His�BMI is almost exactly the same as Ralph, who died at 104 - the longest lived member of the CR Society.
Systolic BP	�103	�94	down 9
Diastolic BP�	�87	�72	down 15
Excellent blood pressure. It may drop further as he continues.
�Resting heart rate	�75	�41	down 27
HR is perfect.
�Ear temperature	35.3C/� 95.5F	34.9C/ 94.8F	down 0.7
Normal ear temp ranges from 96.4�F to 100.4�F. Greg's lower body temperature is consistent with other CR practitioners and with animal studies showing CR lowers body temperature

2009 - Foods eliminated or very substantially reduced:
January	Alcohol
February	Cheese
March	Pastry & batter
April	Crisps/chips
May	Doughnuts, sweet pastry, naughty desserts
June	All fatty foods (1 cheat meal a week)
July	Carbohydrates (1 cheat meal a week) I assume this means simple carbs rather than complex carbohydrates. This is what The CR Way recommends and is similar to the diet of long lived Okinawans.)
August	Eggs
September	Dairy
October	Fully Vegan
November	Processed foods

Exercise - reduction in running miles to around 50%: twice daily short runs to practice and back (1 mile x 2) + 10k once a week.

This is a bit more than we recommend. However, continuing things you enjoy is very important. No one knows exactly how much exercise is best.

Daily weights so each body part is exercised twice per week (12 reps x 2 as heavy as possible). Daily stretching / yoga 15 minutes. Karate 5 minutes a day + 2 hours on a Sunday.

This is the same amount of heavy weight exercise we do. We also do some yoga and include a daily Centering Meditation.

Greg also shared these motivational observations:

It is the positive effects of the less easily quantifiable results that I find most interesting e.g. mood status, libido, energy, stress management, et cetera. In addition, I keep waking up earlier than usual - in my "pre-CR" life this would be due to stress. Now it is due to increased energy. I am sure my memory has improved as I seem to be able to recall and quote scientific papers, telephone numbers, names, et cetera. At 46 I expect my eyesight to slowly deteriorate but it has actually IMPROVED! All these benefits cannot be coincidences.

Greg is a highly motivated, accomplished individual in his personal life. Seeing him carry that into his CR practice - achieving a great deal in a short time - is wonderful. We predict that he will enjoy even more benefits in the years to come, amazing his friends and family with his youthful life as the years roll by.

Boosting Immunity and Swine Flu

The CR Way — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 22:22:00 GMT

When Paul made a presentation at Harvard Medical School recently, he had the opportunity to talk with Dr. Lenny Guarente (http://web.mit.edu/biology/guarente/), one of the world's great scientists who is has been a central figure in sirtuin research.

After Meredith and I thanked him for the profoundly beneficial effect he and his colleagues have had on us and on The CR Way, our conversation turned to the immune system and we thought many of our blog visitors would enjoy hearing it.

Dr. Guarente first asked about colds and flu and whether we get them more frequently with CR. Indeed, it has been just the opposite: We get far fewer colds and flu, possibly because CR preserves the efficacy of the immune system.

Dr. Guarente's perceptive immune system inquiry was prompted by CR's effect of lowering the white blood cell count, which some people feel may make CR folk more susceptible to certain fast acting pathogens. In fact, low white blood cell count as a direct result of CR is probably a beneficial indicator. Use this link for more on this: http://www.livingthecrway.com/home/blog/08-08-31/Low_White_Blood_Cells_a_longevity_indicator.aspx .

However, he still has a point that must be considered. As our conversation progressed, we cited the accidental insight that we gained when we went for blood tests to look at immunity, and unbeknownst to us we were both coming down with Lyme disease. Lyme disease is carried by a tic-borne virus that likely bit us when we were working in our wildflower field. The testing revealed that although our WBC and some of its components were lower than normal - our natural killer cell, T-cell, and B-cell (all essential to the immune response to a pathogen) activity was four times greater than normal. Further, our doctor said that we responded better to treatment than any of the other 300+ cases he had treated.

Impressive, perhaps, but Lenny still made the point that there may be some pathogens that will pose a challenge to calorie restrictors. Perhaps - but studies, showing this, were looking at lab animals. And we don't have to practice CR in such a controlled way. CR Way practitioners are free of lab protocols and can be proactive about their immune response. Consider the HiN1 virus that has everyone concerned. We met with one of our doctors and formed a strategy to boost our immune system to ready our response to this nasty virus:

A. Vaccination

1) Get a vaccination for normal flu http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/NEJMoa0906453

2) Get a vaccination against bacterial pneumonia, a killer that is a known complication of flu.

http://www.homeland1.com/Public-Health/articles/532273-Swine-flu-fighters-pursue-pneumonia-vaccine/#

3) If the HiN1 vaccine becomes available, take it.

B. Vaccination facilitation

Keep glucose low for at least 12 hours after receiving a vaccination. This facilitates gluconeogenesis (making of glucose from fats and proteins), which activates T-memory cells - essential for a beneficial immune response.

See this link for more:

http://www.webmd.com/cancer/news/20090603/diabetes-drug-makes-vaccines-work-better

For healthy ways to keep glucose low consult The CR Way Chapter 4: "Glucose control: the Sweet Spot in Longevity." Also see glucose and glucose control in the index for the many other entries in the book.

For further immunity-boosting tips consult The CR Way Chapter 7: "Cancer Prevention."

# # #

Harvard Presentation a Success!

The CR Way — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 19:30:00 GMT

On Wednesday, September 23, I was pleased to make a presentation at the Aging and Healthy Lifespan Conference, Harvard Medical School. Greeting our friends who came was quite meaningful. Hugging you in person and sharing the friendship that has grown online was very nice.

The conference was made possible by the brilliant scientist, Dr. Christoph Westphal. He is a kind visionary who has extraordinary gifts for bringing people together and motivating them to collaborate in the use of the science.

The day was truly a great event for CR science and practice. This was the first professional conference to focus on both. By listening to speakers like David Sinclair, Cynthia Kenyon, and Lenny Guarente - audiences got a sense of CR history, how we have arrived at a new way to think about CR - focusing on the cell signaling that underpins the benefits. This understanding will take the world to a new level of controlling and eventually intervening against the ravages of aging.

In my presentation, I dispelled a lot of myths about CR, e.g., CR is difficult to do, it's no fun, you have to be hungry, etc. I also explained that the word "restriction" really applies to lab animals that live under tightly controlled conditions and mischaracterizes the better life that humans can enjoy. Echoing the focus on cell signaling, I showed people what that really means when planning diet and lifestyle.

Then I showed how easy CR is to do with the new approach for optimal living, The CR Way. Delicious foods, increasing happiness, better sleep, relieving stress and improving brain health were all part of the presentation.

One of the most meaningful exchanges took place right at the end of the conference, when a bright, good looking woman came to see us at the book-signing table. She had traveled from Colorado for the event. She told us that if people love living, she couldn't understand why they would not want to practice CR. We agree. Especially if you missed this event, do consider joining us for Sunday classes:

http://www.livingthecrway.com/home/longevity.aspx

The next big event is the CR Society Conference in Atlanta, November 18-22. We look forward to seeing you there.

October Sunday Classes

The CR Way — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 22:55:00 GMT

Now that we're OPEN, we look forward to welcoming everyone to classes and meetings, and whatever else strikes the fancy of the CR community.

THE CR WAY LONGEVITY CENTER classes: First up - October Sunday classes, 10 AM to 1 PM.

SAMPLE TOPICS: Happy Dieting, How to Live The CR Way, Fighting Osteoporosis, Low-Calorie Living Made Fun, Controlling Blood Sugar, and Preventing Cancer, Diabetes, and Heart Disease.

See the Longevity Center tab on the Homepage: (http://www.livingthecrway.com/home/longevity.aspx) for details.

Appearance on WEtv

The CR Way — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 21:58:00 GMT

Yesterday, we appeared on a WEtv special. We chose not to publicize it until we actually saw the show, because of the title: "Extreme Dieting." Frankly, if we had known the title that would be used, we probably would have chosen not to do it because we hardly consider living The CR Way extreme. As we have pointed out, The CR Way is about optimal living. Moreover, we emphasize over and over again that the best is for people to practice the lifestyle in a way that works for them. To consider that extreme requires some tabloid editorial work that we try to avoid.

What convinced us to be part of the show was the talented independent film company that shot it -- Pangolin Pictures. We were impressed with producer Amelia Hanibelsz, who seemed to have a true understanding and appreciation for The CR Way of Living. So we decided to go through with the production and we were glad we did.

Overall, they portrayed our lifestyle well - giving viewers a good presentation of just how much fun it can be. They actually let people see some of the romantic and personal aspects of our life that just naturally emanate from feeling so good. They also showed us jumping rope with weight vests, doing back extensions for protection against osteoporosis, and walking and running -- all of which demonstrate the active lifestyle that CR makes possible.

As for the other three diets that were included in the one-hour special, you'll form your own opinions. The CR Way is one of the most tested lifestyles on Earth, and the results speak for themselves. All who truly practice the lifestyle are destined for real benefits that will make huge differences in their lives.

For those who didn't see the show, here are a few more air dates:

Tuesday, September 1 at 11pm | 10c
Wednesday, September 2 at 2am | 1c

Invitation to The CR Way Longevity Center's Opening Celebration

The CR Way — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 21:01:00 GMT

The CR Way Longevity Center will celebrate its Opening on Sunday, this coming September 13. Please check out the details and make plans to join us!