Katrina wrote:

>I'm fairy well acquainted with the calorie restriction diets, which I
>can't follow, but I
>am not familiar with the effects of protein on aging.

Diana Schwarzbein, M.D., in her book _The Schwarzbein Principle: The Truth
About Losing Weight, Being Healthy and Feeling Younger_, talks about
accelerated metabolic aging and high insulin levels.  A former proponent of
high-carb, low-fat diets, she found that the Type II diabetics she was
treating actually got significantly worse on the standard prescribed
diet.  She writes:

"Furthermore, the studies I read substantiated a connection between
prolonged high insulin levels and the degenerative diseases of aging, such
as osteoarthritis, different types of cancer, cholesterol abnormalities,
coronary artery disease...osteoporosis...and Type II diabetes."

She also discusses at length the connection between low-protein / high-carb
diets and a deficiency of serotonin in the brain, which in turn causes a
whole host of problems; she also advocates a diet with plenty of good fats
and says that "a low-fat diet accelerates the destruction [of your
metabolism]. If a person indulges in certain high-insulin-producing
activities---say, smoking and drinking---but eats well, he or she *might*
die at a relatively young age.  But if a person is smoking and drinking and
eating a low-fat diet, she or he *will* die at a younger age.  [The
following in italics:] Longevity depends on a diet with sufficent proteins
and fats to delay insulin resistance [which occurs naturally to some degree
as part of the aging process] as long as possible, thereby delaying
degenerative disease."

Dr. Schwarzbein doesn't cite any studies that specifically find that
protein promotes longevity; but she says it's vital to health, and with an
insulin-limiting diet, will seriously curtail the aging process.

Craig Smith