SearcharxivSearch

arXiv subjects

Hans Dehmelt

Publications and source records attributed to Hans Dehmelt.

2 recordsLinked to original sources

Longest Life in the Best of Health

Throughout history, for reasons of health, well known personalities have opted not to eat to satiety - to under-eat - with known benefits. Here, for the benefits of under-eating a very simple explanation is offered and discussed in some detail. Our distant ancestors, whose bodies we inherited, ate and weighed a good deal less than we do. They had to run around every day to scour the countryside for their scarce food, which kept them lean, hungry and healthy. We, not so healthy relative over-weights, load up our shopping carts once a week at the corner supermarket and simply eat too much for our ~50000-year-old body design. Under-eating or not to eat one's fill appears to bring us somewhat more in line with this design. Thereby, it causes our way of life to more closely resemble the healthier one of our ancient forbears and enables us to potentially live longer, to 100 and more. The putative underlying physiological mechanisms for the health benefits of under-eating are of great interest and therefore are touched upon here.

physics.bio-ph

What is the optimal anthropoid primate diet?

Following Socrates' advice "You should learn all you can from those who know. Everyone should watch himself throughout his life, and notice what sort of meat and drink and what form of exercise suit his constitution, and he should regulate them in order to enjoy good health." Based on biological, chemical and physical considerations I have attempted to synthesize guide lines for an optimal diet from the vast literature. For an offshoot of the primate line it may be wise not to stray too far from the line's surprisingly uniform predominantly frugi- and herbi-vorous diet that is only lightly supplemented by hunted small mammals, eggs, nuts, insects, etc. By dry weight raw wild fruit contains fats, proteins, carbohydrates, digested and undigested fiber in the approximate proportions 5 : 7 : 14 : 17 : 17. The fat component contains both essential fatty acids, about 23% linoleic and 16% alpha-linolenic, the latter severely lacking in Western diets. The practical problem is how to as best as possible, but not religiously, approximate this diet with super-market items.

physics.bio-ph