Less calories means living a longer life
How can eating less sugar extend our lives?
Research has recently been done looking at whether high calorie diets might be the main cause of shortened life spans. A recent study was preformed on healthy human cells, starving them of essential sugars to see what sort of a reaction it would have on them. The results showed that cells, which were given less sugar, tended to live longer than those that were fed a normal dosage. Though these findings are substantial, researchers believe that the study is too broad and more control tests should be done. Slowing the aging process may be more complicated than just slowing down the speed at which cells deteriorate.
A similar study by two other researchers has given slightly different results. They don’t agree that starving a cell of calories is the reason why they live longer. They took a cell and removed its ability to register any sugar in take; they fed the cell with a normal dose of sugar and checked the results. Even though the cell absorbed a good amount of sugar it lived as long as the cells that were starved of sugar. The researchers realized that if they turn off the cells ability to know it’s absorbing sugar, then it has the same effect as starving it of sugar. In other words if we could turn off our cells sugar sensing ability, we could live longer, without having to starve our selves of high calorie foods.
How high calorie diets shorten our lives?
You may have heard that fast food is addictive, or seen children eat candy like it was an illegal drug. Well in some ways this is true of high calorie foods. Sugar works in a similar way to certain drugs, they affect the brains happiness centers and make us feel a sense of satisfaction. Perhaps not to the same extent as cocaine, but they leave us feeling good, constant in takes of high calorie foods can over stimulate these pleasure centers and this desensitizes them. A person with a high calorie content diet will find it difficult to switch to a healthier alternative one. People that have stopped a high calorie diet suddenly, in order to switch to a healthier raw foods diet, have experienced a form of withdrawal symptoms. Sluggishness, irritability, cravings for sweet foods, as well as depression is only a few of the side effects of coming off of a high calorie diet.
So how do I change my diet and start increasing my life span?
Taking into account the uncomfortable side effects of stopping a high sugar diet, it’s best to gradually change your eating habits. Write a list of when you use products with a large amount of sugar in them on a daily basis, then half the intake. For example if you drink 2 cups of tea each day each with 2 teaspoons of sugar, use 1 teaspoon instead. If you eat a muffin each day, take half it and give the other half to a friend. There are sugar free alternative that you can buy, such as ‘splenda’, which is a sugar substitutes. It may be difficult, but remind your self that the goal of this exercise is to extend your life substantially.
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