Let me tell you about Dr. Roy Walford and his anti-aging theory. But first, let me tell you what prompted this little discussion. My wife and I were walking around Coconut Grove, near Miami, when I spotted an outlet of The Cheesecake Factory. I had heard that this was a restaurant that must be tried, although I didn’t quite remember why. It didn’t take long to find out. We were ushered to a table for two and handed a menu almost as thick as a telephone book. This was the first clue that we were in for a unique adventure. Another clue sat at the table next to us, in the form of four diners who had obviously not wasted much energy over the years on any activity other than the furious wielding of cutlery. This was clearly not a place for small appetites.
We decided to share a meal and ordered a salad, which I figured, judging by its $15 price tag, would be of significant size. The waitress seemed somewhat puzzled by the concept of two people sharing a meal, apparently not a common occurrence at The Cheesecake Factory. Hard to understand why, since the huge oval plate that arrived was piled with the annual yield of a small farm. But this was nothing in comparison to the feast that was laid before our neighbors by two waiters who had undoubtedly trained for their job through years of weight lifting. Those plates were heaped with fries, onion rings, ribs, burgers, and other assorted animal parts, to a height of at least 6 inches. Several cows, pigs, and chickens must have been involved in the process. I figured each dish amounted to at least 4,000 calories.
That was before the cheesecake. There were about twenty varieties on the menu, and our neighbors each had a piece. No sharing here! Needless to say, these were no ordinary slices of cheesecake. Just one could have fed half the Moldavian army for a month. I’d estimate that they contained at least 1,000 calories each. As I looked around the restaurant, I saw similar scenes being played out at other tables. Diners seemed to be racing to see who could burst out of their clothes first. I found The Cheesecake Factory pretty interesting, but I think Dr. Roy Walford would have had another description for the place. He would probably have called it a nightmare.
Walford was an absolutely fascinating character. His bald head and Fu Manchu mustache didn’t conjure up the image of a professor of pathology, which is exactly what he was at UCLA medical school. His main research interest was aging, and how not to do it. While Dr. Walford never thought he had found the fountain of youth, he did think he had the answer to extending life expectancy by a couple of decades. And you don’t have to take a mound of supplements to do it. All you have to do is forsake a few calories! Well, possibly more than a few: up to 30 percent of our average intake.
Walford based his theory on numerous animal experiments he carried out. He showed that rodents on calorie-restricted diets live longer and are less prone to cancer and kidney disease. Although certain cancers, such as those of the breast and the colon, have repeatedly been linked to a high-fat diet, it may be that total calorie intake, rather than fat, is the real culprit. Experiments have indeed shown that tumor formation in rodents can be prevented by a low-calorie diet.
One always has to be careful, however, in applying animal models to humans. But Walford cited the example of the inhabitants of the Japanese island of Okinawa. The natives there consume some 30 percent fewer calories than other Japanese, and have significantly reduced rates of cancer, diabetes, and heart disease. The island also has more centenarians than any other area of Japan.
Japan has the longest life expectancy in the world, and it is noteworthy that the typical diet adds up to only about 2,600 calories, the fewest of any industrialized nation. North Americans consume an average of 3,500 calories a day. There is certainly a difference in the fat content of the diet; 25 percent of the calories in the Japanese diet come from fat as compared with 45 percent in the American diet. But the real difference just may be the total calories consumed. Dr. Walford certainly thought so.
In fact, Dr. Walford believed in his theory so strongly that he made himself his own guinea pig. He consumed only about 1,500 to 2,000 calories per day, and sometimes even fasted on alternate days. He ate raw fruits, whole grains, and small amounts of animal protein. To ensure that he was only undernourished, and not malnourished, Dr. Walford took vitamin and mineral supplements. He was going to show the world the benefits of his regimen! Unfortunately, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig’s disease) got in the way, and Walford died in 2004, at the age of seventy-nine.
Perhaps Walford’s ideas were a bit extreme, but there is no doubt that many North Americans need to curb their caloric intake. Governments are looking at various ways to do this, and might even resort to legislation if necessary, but some members of the food industry are already mobilizing to stop the campaign of the “food nags.” They want to be free to stuff people with chips, cookies, and sugared drinks to their heart’s delight. On the other hand, lawyers are preparing to file lawsuits against big food companies, just as they did against the tobacco companies, for knowingly undermining the health of people. It will be an interesting era.
And how did our Cheesecake Factory experience turn out? The salad was excellent, and plenty for two. Then we shared a cheesecake, and couldn’t finish the slice. I asked for a doggie bag. This again puzzled the waitress. I guess she had never before seen a customer who didn’t polish off the mountain of food that was served. As we left, I noticed our neighbors were still sitting at their by then empty table. I think they couldn’t get up.