4 replies to this topic

[Zeratall]

Hello everyone,

After researching about CR for awhile, I've decided to implement the lifestyle into my life. I have come up with a daily diet, I was hoping some of the more experienced practitioners of CR could review my diet and give feedback. The details are down below.

Gender: Male
Age: 22
Body Weight: 165
Height: 6'10"
BMI: 22.9
Daily Supplement Stack:
Ginko Biloba...............120mg
Green Tea Extract......650mg
Ginsana(Ginseng)......200mg
Multivitamin
Zoloft..........................100mg
Amitriptyline................25mg
Adderall......................30mg/15mg most of the time (have bad insomnia)

Foods:
(Breakfast)
3 Large Eggs (Scrambled).....................272.67 Cals.
1 Banana...............................................105.2 Cals
2 Cups of Silk Pure Almond Milk............70 Cals
2 Large (7in) Carrots.............................59.04 Cals
(Lunch)
2 Cups of Raw Spinach..........................13.8 Cals
Chicken Breast (6 oz)............................280.66 Cals
1 Cup of Oatmeal..................................296.8 Cals
1 Tablespoon of Olive Oil......................119.34 Cals
1 Banana...............................................105.2 Cals
(Snack)
1 Med Bagel..........................................286.65 Cals
Totals:

Calories:1609 kcal (45%carb/30% Fat/ 25% protein)
Carbs: 187.3 g
Fat: 53.3 g
Protein:100g

B1: 26.2mg
B12: 258.0 micrograms
B2: 27.5 mg
B3: 55.8 mg
B5: 32.2 mg
B6: 27.6 mg
Choline: 638.0 mg
Folate: 805.8 micrograms
Vitamin A: 12053.2 IU
Vitamin C: 546.6 mg
Vitamin D: 1940.3 IU
Vitamin E: 48.1 mg
Vitamin K: 329.2 micrograms
Calcium: 1336.7 mg
Copper: 3.3 mg
Iron: 16.1 mg
Magnesium: 521.6 mg
Manganese: 8.0 mg
Phosphorus: 1292.9 mg
Potassium: 2879.4 mg
Selenium: 352.8 micrograms
Sodium: 1383.0 mg
Zinc: 26.6 mg

Ratios:

Zinc:Copper: 8.107 (0-20 scale)
Omega-6:Omega-3: 10.714 (0-25 scale)

Again any suggestions or comments on my diet would greatly be appreciated. Thank you all.

Edited by Michael, 07 September 2012 - 03:41 PM.

[scottknl]

Hi, Your diet is deficient in a couple of areas as far as I can see. Vitamin C, B12 and potassium are low. In order to correct this I added 57 more calories of stuff:
A B12 supplement, 10 g of goji berries, 5 g of dried orange peel, 50 g of strawberries, 2 g of potassium salt.
I suggest the potassium salt on the spinach with the olive oil. Perhaps the goji berries, strawberries and orange peel in a couple of cups of tea or maybe in with the oatmeal.

Your methionine is way too high at 2.3 g/day. Maybe aim for less than 1 g/day as a goal for a moderate methionine diet. You should think about adding in a lower methionine source of protein such as lentils. High methionine diets seem to reduce the number of gene changes that are seen as a result of following a CR diet and this implies that some of the benefits of CR may be lost. IGF-1 is also increased with high protein diets.

Similarly your cholesterol intake is 651 mg/d which I think is too much. Since your saturated fats intake is bang on target at 10 g per day you can expect that your HDL won't significantly increase. So the question you have to answer for yourself is "will my current HDL level protect me against the extra cholesterol intake?". It may eventually catch up with you and cause trouble.

Your fatty acid balance at 10:1 is far too high. You should aim for 5:1 or lower. Adding ground flaxseed to your oatmeal might help here. Limit Omega-3 fatty acid intake to around 3g per day. For the Omega-6 portion of fats, perhaps you could add some nuts to your diet. Getting this balance wrong tends to create inflammation in the body over time.

Overall your calorie level of 1609 looks to be a little light for a 6' 10" frame@165. I'm at 1750 kcals for a 6' 2" frame@155, so you're eating a lot less than I am. I'd be tempted to add 200 kcals on for around 1800 kcals per day, but if you're BMI is stable at 22.5 with 1609 kcals then cool, I guess.

I think you could halve your protein intake and make up for it with more nuts and seeds as fats. Also your diet doesn't seem to have many different ingredients. Dietary diversity is more work to gather and prepare your food, but in the end you get more nutrients from different sources. Try to work in a few different veggies instead of just 2 cups of spinach. Berries contain many phyto-nutrients and could replace some of the banana.

[Brett Black]

I disagree with some of the comments scottknl has made. Amongst other things:
-Your B12 is not low, it's around 100 times the RDA.
-Your vitamin C is not low, it's around 5 times the RDA.

Also, your stated height and weight do not match the BMI you've given(according to the calculator I'm using.)

Are you really 6'10" tall and 165 pounds? If so, your BMI is 17.3, which is already in the underweight category(and already lower than many, possibly most, serious long-term human CR practitioners):
http://apps.who.int/...ge=intro_3.html

Thus, the most obvious immediate issue I see is that your weight is already low for your height. I think a low starting weight in particular(even moreso than a "normal" starting weight) raises serious concerns about the risks of CR in humans. Also, starting from a low weight likely severely limits the degree of restriction(relative to your ad libitum weight/intake) possible, which is in opposition to the fundamental principle(less calories) right from the get-go.

Edited by Brett Black, 08 September 2012 - 01:41 AM.

[suspire]

Also, your stated height and weight do not match the BMI you've given(according to the calculator I'm using.)

Are you really 6'10" tall and 165 pounds? If so, your BMI is 17.3, which is already in the underweight category(and already lower than many, possibly most, serious long-term human CR practitioners):
http://apps.who.int/...ge=intro_3.html

Yeah...I'm 6'2" and if I hit under maybe 180, I'm too thin. I don't know how you are at 165 and anywhere near healthy.

[scottknl]

I disagree with some of the comments scottknl has made. Amongst other things:
-Your B12 is not low, it's around 100 times the RDA.
-Your vitamin C is not low, it's around 5 times the RDA.

Also, your stated height and weight do not match the BMI you've given(according to the calculator I'm using.)

Are you really 6'10" tall and 165 pounds? If so, your BMI is 17.3, which is already in the underweight category(and already lower than many, possibly most, serious long-term human CR practitioners):
http://apps.who.int/...ge=intro_3.html

Thus, the most obvious immediate issue I see is that your weight is already low for your height. I think a low starting weight in particular(even moreso than a "normal" starting weight) raises serious concerns about the risks of CR in humans. Also, starting from a low weight likely severely limits the degree of restriction(relative to your ad libitum weight/intake) possible, which is in opposition to the fundamental principle(less calories) right from the get-go.

You're right Brett, I missed the multivitamin, so that's where he was getting the extra vitamins from. I didn't want to take his numbers at face value for the nutrients, so I put the foods into cron-o-meter and worked from there. And I didn't recalculate his BMI, so 17.3 it is, not 22.5.