Eat less and you just might live longer, at least so say researchers, who last week released the results of a 20-year study involving flies, worms, mice and monkeys.
Apparently, scientists have known for a long time that cutting down on food consumption increased the life span of worms and flies, but translating that to mammals, first mice then monkeys, took two decades and a lot of mice and monkeys. According to the study, cutting calorie intake by about a third not only slowed down the deteriorating processes of aging but kept the monkeys alive longer than previously normal life spans.
In other words, for 20 years, some of the monkeys ate like monkeys usually do, while others ate the same food, but in severely restricted amounts. Those hungry monkeys are the ones who are still alive, hale and hearty. Hungry, yes, but still alive and with far fewer signs of aging.
That is the real surprise of the 20-year study, apparently; not that the monkeys on the restricted calorie intake are living longer, which was expected, but that they have far fewer of the diseases associated with aging, and appear much younger than their better-fed counterparts. To put it simply, the hungry monkeys are living longer, healthier lives and looking much younger, just by drastically reducing their food intake.
“What we would really like is not so much that people should live longer but that people should live healthier; the fact that there’s less disease in these animals is striking,” said Dr. David Finkelstein of the National Institute on Aging.
Of course, none of this has yet been researched on the highest mammals of the food chain, human beings, and in a country currently known for the obesity of a majority of its inhabitants, I doubt a sufficient number of participants could be found to carry out such a study. This is not a matter of another quick, hard diet to get rid of some extra pounds. These scientists are talking about a long term, perhaps a lifetime, of cutting way back on the amount of food we eat.
If you are a calorie counter and you’re on a “typical” 1,500 to 2,000 (depending on male or female, age, etc.) calorie-per-day regime, cutting back by a third would mean you’re living on approximately 1,000 to 1,400 or so calories a day. Have you recently kept a count of the number of calories you’re eating every day? Try it; I think you’ll find that most Americans today would consider this close to a starvation diet.
Would it be worth learning to live lean and hungry if we could thereby live a longer life free of the ravages of old age that often make a longer life not worth living? I’m not sure, but I do wish I knew someone who knows how to talk to monkeys.
RECIPES
From several follow-up stories about this study, I learned that there are many people out there who are already devotees of the eat less, age less, live longer style of eating. I saw photos of two couples who’d been eating this way for years, by choice; they looked very good for their ages. They ate only two meals a day, breakfast and mid-afternoon. They were very thin. They seemed happy. I’m not convinced, but I am trying to keep an open mind.
Here’s a recipe designed to feed two people; I have many of these because most days now I’m cooking only for John and myself. Perhaps if I then cut it in half, I’d end up with the amount called for by the scientists who are underfeeding those monkeys.
In any case, the recipe is easily doubled if you’re feeding four or more, and delicious no matter how many are eating.
SEAFOOD FETTUCCINE
4 oz. whole wheat fettuccine
2 T. olive oil, divided (see instructions)
4 sea scallops, seasoned with salt and pepper
4 jumbo shrimp, peeled, de-veined if necessary, seasoned with a bit of salt and pepper, or 3-4 oz fresh cooked crab meat, but add it later (see instructions)
2 T. minced garlic
1 t. red pepper flakes, or to taste
½ cup dry white wine
¼ cup chicken broth
6 mussels, rinsed and de-bearded, if necessary (or 6 small steamer clams)
1 cup grape tomatoes, cut in half
2 T. unsalted butter, cold, cut into cubes
2 T. chopped fresh parsley or cilantro, your preference
2 t. lemon zest, minced
Toasted seasoned bread crumbs, for garnish, if desired (see below)
Cook pasta in a large pot of salted water according to pkg. instructions. Drain but don’t rinse; put back in cooking pot until ready to use, stirring it a bit to prevent clumping.
In a sauté pan, heat 1 T. of the olive oil; sear the scallops and shrimp over med. high heat until golden, about 1 min., (remember, they’ll cook a bit more in the sauce so don’t cook them any longer than that). Remove to a plate and set aside. Add remaining tablespoon of olive oil to the pan, add garlic and pepper flakes and sauté until just fragrant, maybe 30 seconds, or you’ll burn the garlic.
Deglaze the pan with the wine and broth, scraping any bits from the bottom. Return shrimp and scallops to the pan; add mussels or clams and crab meat (if you’re using that instead of shrimp) and the tomatoes. Cover and steam just until mussels or clams open, perhaps 3 min.
Remove from heat, add butter, parsley and lemon zest. Add the drained pasta, toss to coat with the sauce and season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Top each serving with bread crumbs, if desired, or freshly grated Parmesan cheese.
To make seasoned bread crumbs: Sauté a strip of bacon, diced, in a small skillet until crisp. Transfer to a paper towel, pour off all but 1 t. of the drippings. Toast ½ cup fresh bread crumbs and a teaspoon or two of minced fresh thyme leaves in the drippings until crumbs are golden. Season with a bit of salt, toss in the reserved bacon. Use as garnish for pasta dish.
Whether you’re vegetarian or not, eggplant gratin or eggplant Parmesan is not only nutritious eating, but an easy two person delicious meal. Whenever I find really nice, firm young eggplants, I buy one and we have this dish for dinner. Serve this with a tossed green salad and you won’t mind eating less if it’s this good. By the way, don’t peel the eggplant; that purple skin is loaded with antioxidants.
EGGPLANT GRATIN
1 med. eggplant (about ¾ lb.), sliced into ½ inch thick rounds
¼ cup shallots, sliced
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
½ cup ricotta cheese (part skim)
¼ cup skim milk
3 T. grated Parmesan cheese
1 T. tomato paste
½ cup chopped Roma tomatoes
2 t. chopped fresh thyme
Additional 1/4 cup grated Parmesan for top
Preheat broiler. Coat eggplant slices and shallot with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Place eggplant on a baking sheet and broil until lightly browned, 5-6 min. Turn slices over, add shallots to the pan and broil 3-4 min. more. Remove from oven, turn broiler off and preheat oven to 400 degrees.
In a food processor, puree the ricotta, milk, Parmesan and tomato paste. Add chopped tomato and thyme and pulse to combine.
Coat a 1 qt. casserole dish with cooking spray. Layer ½ of the eggplant slices in the bottom of the dish, spread with ½ of the ricotta mixture; repeat layering with remaining eggplant, shallots and ricotta, then top with Parmesan cheese. Bake the gratin about 25 min. or until the cheese is browned and bubbly. Serve with a salad of chopped escarole or romaine drizzled with lemon juice and olive oil and a sprinkle of salt and topped with grated Parmesan cheese.
Are you in the mood for pizza but it’s always too much? How about pizza wraps instead. As regular readers know, I’m very fond of tortillas because you can put virtually anything in them and make as many or as few as you like, or use them as pizza as in these quick, easy and very tasty wraps.
PIZZA WRAPS
¼ lb. Italian bulk sausage, mild or hot, your preference
1 cup thinly sliced button or crimini mushrooms
Salt, to taste
½ cup canned crushed tomatoes
1½ t. red wine vinegar
1½ t. olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced (more if you like)
½ t. dried Italian herbs
Pinch of sugar and a pinch of dried red pepper flakes
2 flour tortillas, burrito size (10-inch)
½ cup shredded mozzarella cheese (part-skim if you wish), divided (see instructions)
10 large slices pepperoni, divided (see instructions)
½ cup baby fresh spinach, divided (see instructions)
1 T. shredded Parmesan cheese
1. In a non-stick skillet over med.-high heat, cook the sausage until browned, breaking it up with a spoon as it cooks. Add mushrooms and salt and saute’ until sausage is cooked through, about 5 min. Remove to a plate and wipe out the skillet.
2. To make tomato sauce, in a bowl, stir together the tomatoes, vinegar, oil, garlic, herbs, sugar and pepper flakes.
3. Heat the skillet over med.-low. Put one tortilla in the skillet and spread with 2-3 T. of the tomato sauce. Top with about ¼ cup mozzarella, half of the sausage mixture and five slices of the pepperoni. Arrange ¼ cup of spinach on top and sprinkle with half of the Parmesan. When the mozzarella has melted, transfer the tortilla to a cutting board and roll it up (it may crack a bit but it’s OK). Let it stand a minute or so before slicing into thirds or whatever thickness you prefer. Repeat process with second tortilla. Serve with extra tomato sauce for dipping or drizzling.
Note: These pizza wraps are great when the kids are hungry, too, and if you cook the sausage mixture, they can and should be encouraged to do the rest and make their own wraps. Obviously, you’ll need to make more filling, have more cheese, etc., as this recipe is only for two people.
