This week marks the publication of a book called The Anti-Aging Protocol: How to Live for Up To 30 Years Extra. It is by a scientist called Dr Malcolm H. Goyns and is based on research conducted by The University of Liverpool’s School Of Biological Science. In it he claims that by following two steps you will be able to add many years to your life and, and this is where it gets really good, lose a significant amount of weight and then be able to eat a normal calorie diet without putting it back on!
Thirty years is a long time. How, you might ask, might one add all these extra years to one’s life? Has Goyns found the font of eternal youth buried in his back garden? What is this amazing new discovery? Well the two elements that combine to give you an extra thirty years have both been around for some time. Let’s look at them individually.
The first is the concept of calorie restriction. It is not a new idea; in fact it has been around for several decades. Calorie restriction involves consuming significantly fewer calories per day than is generally recommended; actually about two thirds. Mice placed on such a diet for six months lived 25 to 40 percent longer than mice given a normal calorie intake.
The twist on this given by Goyns comes in the form of a food supplement that is readily available in health food shops called alpha lipoic acid (ALA). He suggests that reducing your BMI to a point, which is below normal for your height, that is to say underweight, and then beginning to take ALA and returning to a normal calorie diet will prevent the weight from returning and significantly prolong your life. Sounds pretty good huh?
We have to say that we do not support this plan of action for anyone wishing to lose weight. There is nothing wrong with taking ALA as a supplement - I have been doing so myself for a number of years – but sending the body into starvation mode (which would probably happen following Dr Goyns's methods) can actually lead to a higher than normal fat retention once a normal diet is resumed. Dr Goyns’s opinions are contested by some of his fellow researchers as far as we know so we suggest that his advice is not followed until further evidence as to the safety of this weight loss method is firmly established and understood.