Yesterday, Oprah devoted her show to Extreme Life Extension.
During the show, Oprah and Dr. Oz showcased some of the science and technology devoted to extending human life. And, for a health & fitness nerd like myself, it was fun to watch.
If you missed it, here is a synopsis.
Pretty cool, huh?
But what I found most interesting was the discussion about the Life Extension Diet.
For those of you who don’t know about the Life Extension Diet, here is the abridged version:
- Restrict your caloric intake
- Get those calories from highly nutritious foods
Simple.
Except, this is how Oprah’s viewers were introduced to the diet:

A skinny, middle aged guy weighing and measuring everything he eats….and if that wasn’t bad enough, he peels an apple for his breakfast.
And what’s so weird about that?
Because he threw out the apple and ate the peel.
Seriously
mmmmmmmmmmmmmm, apple peel.
These people need to hire a better marketing company.
They need to:
- Down play the caloric restriction – people don’t like being hungry
- Upsell the sizzle of the steak
- Make my mouth water over bowls of luscious fruit
- And hire some sexy celebrity(ies) to glam things up a bit.
I mean, seriously, who is more likely to get America hooked onto the Longevity Diet?

or this guy…
and be honest.
You know that sex sells better than brains any day of the week.
So, with that in mind, here’s my attempt at marketing the new and improved…
Ultra-Longevity Diet
- Endorsed by Matthew McConaughey
- Loaded with sizzling steaks and fruit smoothies
- Guaranteed to give you limitless energy & vitality
- You’ll live longer than you can even imagine
- And your sex life will be off the charts….
All for the low, low price of $19.99
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lol. Good post. When I heard about that Oprah show all I could think of is that she is up to it again with her health advice.
It seems like all alternative health methods get bashed by media. The 60 Minutes special on raw foodies made them all look like skeletons that only think about eating. Its kind of sad how anything alternative gets bashed. Heck on the food network a while ago I heard one of their chiefs say the type of chicken does not matter, basically meaning pastured chicken from a farm is the same as commercial chicken health wise. eeekk
The guy with the beard is awesome!
I wonder though…would i want to live forever if I had to look like Gandolf the not-so-gray? I’m not sure.
That’s exactly what I thought.
They present a fairly convincing argument, back it up with a bunch of research, but then blow it by looking like nut-jobs.
Gotta love the Gandalf reference. However, I don’t have to love the fact that I realized that you misspelled Gandalf…I am a loser.
Calorie Restriction really helps in avoiding some diseases like diabetes and heart disease..~”
as science suggests, calorie restriction diets are great for longevity'”,
[…] longer, better, healthier, sexier, etc.And because we want those things, some of us are willing to starve ourselves or swallow just about any drug or supplement that promises to halt or slow down the aging […]
So I discovered your blog after having lost a lot of weight via exercise and calorie restriction. I was at goal weight but didn’t have much muscle tone. A lot of your blog posts frequently say “stop counting calories,” which stunned me a bit. But I did want to make a shift in body fat to muscle and couldn’t do it on 1200 calories a day, all the trainers and books be damned, so I tried your method. I just ate quality foods, low grain, low starch,high protein and quality fats, and though I recorded the foods for the sake of my mental health, I didn’t measure or count. Some days, I knew that “handful” of nuts was 700 calories or more but I went with it. It’s been working incredibly, and I’ve seen dramatic shifts in fat loss. And i do feel great. I know that if I eat fruit sugar for breakfast, it’ll trip me up with 3pm cravings. I really think there’s a million ways to achieve great health and fitness (I’ve tried at least 30, Oprah’s tried 500) but the point is to be aware of your ownbody, see what’s working & what needs tweaking, and definitely commit to what’s right for you. Doing nothing should be unacceptable to yourself
” the point is to be aware of your ownbody, see what’s working & what needs tweaking, and definitely commit to what’s right for you”.
I agree a billion %