When Calorie Restriction Isn’t Calorie Restriction!

Some people say that a calorie restriction diet is difficult to follow. It used to be. But things have changed: Thanks to great work by leading scientists, calorie restriction is just as much about cell signaling as it is about limiting calories.

It is known, for example, that serious long-term calorie restriction dramatically lowers insulin levels, which is vital for longevity. Another hormone, with a very similar molecular structure, insulin-like growth factor one (IGF-I), shares the same pathway with insulin and is downregulated by calorie restriction as well.

The bad news is that if you do not pay attention to the special properties of individual foods, they can -- independent of calories -- stimulate the insulin/IGF-I pathway. At that point, CR should not stand for Calorie Restriction but rather Cancer Risk, since it is known that high levels of either hormone increase the likelihood of contracting cancer, as well as the risk of getting many chronic diseases -- including diabetes and both heart and Alzheimer’s disease.

Back in the 1930s when the term calorie restriction was first applied to some rat and mice experiments, it was entirely appropriate because the focus was on calories since little was known about the signals involved in the life-extending effects of the diet. All that changed as scientists discovered important cell signaling patterns that produced the phenomenal life-transforming effects.

In 2008, The CR Way took the cell-signaling patterns that were known and integrated them with strategies to create a holistic lifestyle. This makes it much easier to follow a CR diet because it's turned into a happy, positive lifestyle that focuses on living better now and quite possibly longer. Delicious recipes and food choices are offered that help lower the insulin/IGF-I pathway – reducing disease risk, while making it easier to lose weight if you need to.