Humanity has been fascinated with immortality for most of its waking life. Ancient societies and civilizations have built their most grand temples for the afterlife. The ancient Egyptian’s pyramids were essentially tombs to house the pharaoh’s lasting wish of holding claim not only to the Egyptian slaves, but to time itself through an eternal life. Many religions in the past up to today mirror the thirst for life seemingly without end. Sociologists have surmised that one of the key reasons for this is the overly large human brain, which processes not only basic survival needs through instinct, but has come to wonder and be awed by the universe at large.

Life and Youth Industry

Today, the concepts of time and aging have come to be key industries in many core cultures and nations in the world. The demand for longevity is obvious, and made even more prominent with the pressures of mass media, is answered with its own self-created supply. Many entrepreneurs have joined the religious and the scientists in giving humankind a taste of the lasting. But how do you tell fact from fiction, and how do you know what really works?

Anti-Aging Approaches

There are two broad classifications of anti-aging methods and programs available today. On the one hand, there is the fruit of modern society itself, in the form of medical technology and innovations, which are often translated into commercial industries. Cosmetic surgery and cosmetics in general are now multi-billion dollar industries. In every major city around the global village, you can find pictures of ‘perfection’ staring at you in billboards and in the pages of magazines, or dotting cyberspace, all of which collectively create an image of perpetual youth.

Coupled with the consumerist tendencies in society, the solution to attaining the ideal is, first, through the application of a cabinet-full of ointments, creams, and lotions to retard and reverse the signs of aging. Scientifically speaking, there are few topical cosmetic treatments that have any deep and lasting impact on the body. And when the first defenses against aging wears off, on we go to build the next fortress against our own frail mortalities: this is often through the use of radical treatments such as cosmetic surgery.

Cosmetic Surgery

In 2006 alone, well over ten million cosmetic surgeries were performed in the United States. By 2007, over 12 million were turning to cosmetic surgery to appease desires for the socially constructed ideals of beauty. In Europe, over USD 2.2 is spent on cosmetic surgery. Once a procedure prominent in soldiers who were physically injured, now the injuries on which plastic surgery is often applied is time and aging. Among the common procedures are tummy tucks, breast enlargement, face lifts, facial peels, liposuction, butt augmentation, and nose jobs.

Fallen Short

But for all the dollars spent in conforming to the ideals of perfection etched in the pages of media today, most operations result not in youthful beauty per se, but faces and bodies that may not be smeared with the wrinkles of age, but which are also equally void of time’s wisdom and the touches of a life well lived. The question burning now in many people’s minds is just how effectively the present treatments solve our collective time crisis.

No Way Like the Natural Way
Scientists have been boggled by the prolonged youthful appearance and pronouncedly long lives of many Asians. Compared to other countries, Asians are one of the most intense tobacco users, yet cancer rates are amazingly low in these countries. Eventually, researches have established that a key to the Oriental secret involves what you put in your mouth. Green tea, which is consumed by the liters in most Asian countries and which has been cultivated since prehistoric times, was one of the answers which popped out. Rich in polyphenols that fight carcinogens such as free radicals, tea is actually only one of the age-honored yet ‘newly’ discovered alternatives.

Calorie Restriction

In the 1980s, a researcher in Cornell University, Dr. Clive McCay, discovered another one of the hidden techniques for longer life. In an experiment involving mice, he discovered that by decreasing calories in the subjects’ diets, the life span can be increased by up to 60 percent. Since then, other tests have been conducted to test the hypothesis, and on a host of other animals. The results are unanimously astonishing.

Always, when the calorie content in diets are reduced gradually, there is a concomitant increase in lifespan. By the early nineties, the seeds were planted for what would eventually be known as the Calorie Restriction Society, a non-profit organization aiming for the promotion of the technique.

Easy Health

By reducing calories and retaining or even enhancing the nutrient content in meals, calorie restriction diet proves to be a feasible long-term plan for ensuring longer and youthful life. Among the effects are leaner bodies with less fat, and positive changes in blood pressure, cardiovascular performance, cholesterol level, blood sugar levels, and body fat percentages. Through the substitution of empty carbohydrates and excess sugars in the regular meal with fruits, vegetables, and lean meat, a calorie restriction diet practitioner can remain both healthy and active with no substantial compromise.

Since calorie restriction diet is seen as a life-long endeavor for longer life, time is given here plentifully. A newbie can take up to two years just slowly adjusting to the new diet. With knowledge of the uniqueness of each human body, the calorie restriction dietS advises each to find his own suitable calorie-reduced diet. And unlike other crash diets that leave the dieter weak and in fear of food, with calorie restriction diet, not only is nutrition a vital part of each meal, but exercises is also acknowledged as a necessary ingredient to a complete and healthy lifestyle geared for good old age and many years to come. Food is not vilified in calorie restriction diet, nor restricted. Only calories are.

Many practitioners of calorie restriction diet are finding out that the secret to longevity and lasting youth does not come in one-time-big-time bangs. With calorie restriction diet, you know why.