You wrote;
> I remember reading a study whereby those who ate less during there
> life lived considerably older.
As I understand it, when you fast near to the point of starvation, it
will actually begin to consume the deep fat depots of the body. Tests
done with animals and people fed with deuterium oxide (heavy water, D2O)
show that the D2O will lodge itself in those fat depots. That was part
of the evidence I used in writing up the D2O.ASC paper years ago
suspecting that heavy water quenched the low level radioactive levels in
the mitochondria of cells. So, a near starvation fast would help to
remove the D2O accumulations and halt the quenching effect...in the
process, rejuvenation (to some degree) occurs. Attached is an experiment
done with worms that offers proof of the contention, again to some
degree, i.e. without actually stating that it IS D2O that is the secret.
.................
The Fasting Worms
Experimental tests conducted in the 1930's at the Zoology Department of
the University of Chicago showed that worms, when well-fed, grew old,
but by fasting them they were made young again.
In one experiment worms were fed as much as they usually eat, except one
worm, which was isolated and alternatively fed and fasted. The isolated
worm was alive and energetic after 19 generations of its relatives had
lived out their normal lifespans.
Professor C.M. Childs said:
"When worms are deprived of food, they do not die of
starvation in a few days. They live for months on
their own tissues. At such time they become smaller
and may be reduced to a fraction of their original
size. Then when fed after such a fasting, they show
all the physiological traits of young animals. But
with continued feeding, they again go through the
process of growth and aging (and die).
One group of worms was well fed and every three or four
months passed through the cycle of aging and
reproducing. Another group was given just enough food
to maintain the worms at a constant size but not enough
to make them grow.
These worms remained in good condition without becoming
appreciably older as long as the experiment continued,
which was three years."
The life-span extension of these worms was the equivalent of keeping a
man alive for 600 to 700 years. The big question, of course, is - do
worms that don't die contribute much to the soil?
-- Jerry W. Decker / jdecker@keelynet.com http://keelynet.com / "From an Art to a Science" Voice : (214) 324-8741 / FAX : (214) 324-3501 KeelyNet - PO BOX 870716 - Mesquite - Republic of Texas - 75187