The Eat Less Food Diet Prolongs Life

The Pittsburgh Review-Tribune reports:

Twice a day every day for the last six years, Dean Pomerleau has eaten the same meal: Vegetables and fruits, high in nutrients and low in calories.

The regimen has allowed the Pine entrepreneur to shed 50 pounds from his 5-foot, 8-inch frame, slimming down to 120, but weight loss is not what he's after.

"It's more looking at the human body as a system, as a machine, and seeing how it works and what will optimize its performance, as far as longevity," said Pomerleau.

Pomerleau, 41, is one of about 2,000 people worldwide who are part of the calorie-restriction movement. Adherents live on 2,000 calories or less a day -- about 20 percent less than what the typical male consumes. They say they believe the regimen can extend their lives to 120 years and beyond.


Such thinking isn't based on junk science, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center nutrition researcher Madelyn Fernstrom said. Studies on animals ranging from fruit flies to rats show that reducing calorie intake by a third increases life span by about 30 percent.

The ELF diet produces results.