Hi all! :) 16 years mostly plant-based, over 7 years vegan

Whoa182

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  1. Vegan
I've made a few posts here already but I've yet to properly introduce myself... ?

My name is Matt, I'm 34 years old, and I live in the UK. I'm not new to the vegan diet, I've been vegan for about 7 years now, and even before that, I was eating a vegetarian diet from 2007 to 2012. And before that, when I was 18 years old, I switched to a diet which was largely plant-based with a little bit of fish, while doing something called CR, which is known to slow aging.

Changing to a vegetarian diet was initially for health-related reasons (I thought it would be better) but over time and the more I learned, the ethical reasons were just as important to me. I would never go back to eating meat now!

The switch to a vegan diet was in part because of my GF at the time but also because I wanted to lower my protein intake and going vegan was a good way to do that (to help lower igf-1). It was a fairly easy transition to make and never experienced any issues until later on and it was my own fault for being a bit complacent. Rather than ditching the vegan diet, I examined my diet more carefully and figured out what the issue was (zinc deficiency) and everything resolved quite rapidly. I've not even been sick once in years since I started supplementing.

I'm not the most perfect vegan out there and never claimed to be. About 98-99% of the days out of each year my diet is strictly vegan. The odd day in the year I might accidentally eat something that isn't vegan (something with dairy or egg) while eating out. I try to do my best and don't purposefully go out to buy anything that is non-vegan.

I'm not very judgemental about other people's eating habits, I regularly eat with people who eat meat. Maybe it did bug me at first but I live with it. I try to live more by example, but as I'm also a Blogger, I have an outlet to help people stay healthy on a vegan diet and to promote veganism. I've learned a lot over the years and have a lot to share...

I haven't really got any vegan friends here where I live, so I wanted to get involved here and make some vegan friends and help people. Even though I've been eating this way for a long time, I've not been that active in the "vegan community."

But here I am now lol... ?
 
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to your official introduction I give you an official welcome welcome!

It is so interesting to see all the different journies we have made to where we are today. We did have a thread on that a while back.

Congrats on taking control of your health and for helping others too make the transition to veganism as well.

Emma JC
 
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I've made a few posts here already but I've yet to properly introduce myself... ?

My name is Matt, I'm 34 years old, and I live in the UK. I'm not new to the vegan diet, I've been vegan for about 7 years now, and even before that, I was eating a vegetarian diet from 2007 to 2012. And before that, when I was 18 years old, I switched to a diet which was largely plant-based with a little bit of fish, while doing something called CR, which is known to slow aging.

Changing to a vegetarian diet was initially for health-related reasons (I thought it would be better) but over time and the more I learned, the ethical reasons were just as important to me. I would never go back to eating meat now!

The switch to a vegan diet was in part because of my GF at the time but also because I wanted to lower my protein intake and going vegan was a good way to do that (to help lower igf-1). It was a fairly easy transition to make and never experienced any issues until later on and it was my own fault for being a bit complacent. Rather than ditching the vegan diet, I examined my diet more carefully and figured out what the issue was (zinc deficiency) and everything resolved quite rapidly. I've not even been sick once in years since I started supplementing.

I'm not the most perfect vegan out there and never claimed to be. About 98-99% of the days out of each year my diet is strictly vegan. The odd day in the year I might accidentally eat something that isn't vegan (something with dairy or egg) while eating out. I try to do my best and don't purposefully go out to buy anything that is non-vegan.

I'm not very judgemental about other people's eating habits, I regularly eat with people who eat meat. Maybe it did bug me at first but I live with it. I try to live more by example, but as I'm also a Blogger, I have an outlet to help people stay healthy on a vegan diet and to promote veganism. I've learned a lot over the years and have a lot to share...

I haven't really got any vegan friends here where I live, so I wanted to get involved here and make some vegan friends and help people. Even though I've been eating this way for a long time, I've not been that active in the "vegan community."

But here I am now lol... ?

Hi! I'm new here too, nice to meet you!
 
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And before that, when I was 18 years old, I switched to a diet which was largely plant-based with a little bit of fish, while doing something called CR, which is known to slow aging.
Hello and welcome! Curious - what is CR? Whatever it is it must be working b/c you don't look a day over 24 :)
 
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Welcome! BTW you look kinda like Axl Rose in your avatar pic. :D

Lol you're not the first person to say that. :)

@Whoa182

Is that you in your Avatar?

I thought maybe it was someone famous.

I thought maybe I should know who it was and I was too embarrassed to ask.

Yes, of course! haha =)

Hello and welcome! Curious - what is CR? Whatever it is it must be working b/c you don't look a day over 24 :)

Thank you you for your kind words xD.

People usually think that I'm in my early 20s when they meet me. Although, my brother came back here with his date a couple of weeks ago and she thought I was 18!! That photo is a few months old now, maybe I should update it :p But anyway, it convinced her to go vegan and she wanted to know all my secrets lol.

CR just means that I restrict my calories to a certain amount. I do provide information on this on my blog about this but I don't really encourage others to restrict calories. Just eat healthily. :) I'm part of a life-long experiment and I have a lot of tests done by my doctor to make sure I'm healthy. It's the most consistent thing known to slow aging and extend life span in a lot of animals.

Thanks for the welcome, everyone! =)
 
Back in the early 80s, I had a biology teacher in college who said that. That we eat to much and to frequently. I think it's all marketing - the whole "3 meals a day" thing. He was a very lean, fit, and seemingly healthy older gentleman.
 
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I think that's mostly it... People have forgotten what is normal these days. Vegans (according to research) already eat much fewer calories than people on a standard diet. It's not as low as people who intentionally do CR, but it's enough that they get some of the benefits and stay pretty trim.

One of the researchers (Dr. Luigi Fontana) who studied my group at WUSTL also compared the group against low-calorie raw food vegans (they ate around 2000 k/cal a day). And in terms of BP, cholesterol, glucose, etc, the results very were comparable (a little better for the CR group). The only major differences were differences in thyroid hormones, body temperature, which was much lower for people eating significantly less (1800 K/cal for CR). There might've been other differences too but it's been a long time and I can't remember.

Even the average non-raw food vegan eats much less (2383 Calories) than a typical person on WD (2985 Calories.)

1. Comparison of Nutritional Quality of the Vegan, Vegetarian, Semi-Vegetarian, Pesco-Vegetarian and Omnivorous Diet
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3967195/

2. Long-term low-calorie low-protein vegan diet and
endurance exercise are associated with low
cardiometabolic risk
https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/86d1/b5f47da789b3123fcdc435dd5fd640a2725b.pdf
 
he dyes his hair and has botox (or equivalent) - that seems a bit weird when you are trying to prove that a certain diet keeps you young.... no?

Emma JC
 
Interesting. I've run across some of that science with rats before. Seems pretty good science.
 
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Interesting. I've run across some of that science with rats before. Seems pretty good science.

I am sure that we could all stand to eat a few less calories every day, I know for sure I could, and yet going down the CR lifestyle lane seems very onerous and could be more isolating, for many people, than eating a vegan diet can be. A sensible balance would be good.

Emma JC
 
I am sure that we could all stand to eat a few less calories every day, I know for sure I could, and yet going down the CR lifestyle lane seems very onerous and could be more isolating, for many people, than eating a vegan diet can be. A sensible balance would be good.

Emma JC
That biology professor I had - he advocated for fasting every 3rd day. That's what he said he did.
 
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he dyes his hair and has botox (or equivalent) - that seems a bit weird when you are trying to prove that a certain diet keeps you young.... no?

Emma JC

He has skin needling which can increase collagen synthesis (completely different to botox) and yeah, dyes his hair. But he's 61... And I don't think he's trying to prove anything to anyone, he just gets contacted to do interviews and to take part in this kind of programs.

He is part of a long-term study on aging in humans: Here, here, and here.
 
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Interesting... I'm less interested in his physical appearance and what he may or may not be doing cosmetically and more interested to see if, in fact, he lives a super long time and stays healthy.
 
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I am sure that we could all stand to eat a few less calories every day, I know for sure I could, and yet going down the CR lifestyle lane seems very onerous and could be more isolating, for many people, than eating a vegan diet can be. A sensible balance would be good.

Emma JC

I wouldn't recommend that anyone try to do CR, at least at the levels I and some other people do it (I eat about 1500-1600 K/cal a day). My metabolism slowed a lot over 16 years, so now I can maintain a BMI close to 19.

Veganism + CR seems like it's asking for trouble unless you're very careful.

There is a risk people take it too far and suffer serious health issues because of it... So when someone finds out what I do and they're interested, I usually just advise them to choose healthier foods and don't worry too much about calories. Quality of diet is super important... I'd rather they NOT go down this road and obsess over calories.

But I think moderation is good.

There is a place called Okinawa where they used to practice something called: Hara hachi bun me (腹八分目). It means that they ate until 80% full. Naturally, they were 'mildly CR'd because of it (and other reasons.) In Ogimi, one of the poorest prefectures, they were known for their extreme longevity and very high number of centenarians. Their diet has been since "westernized" and they've lost it.
 
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