There is some recent evidence against the efficacy of calorie restriction: http://www.mailbucket.org/ieet-life-11416105.html
Sat, 01/24/2009 - 04:37 - NLN
If you are a mouse on the chubby side, then eating less may help you live longer. For lean mice - and possibly for lean humans, the authors of a new study predict -- the anti-aging strategy known as caloric restriction may be a pointless, frustrating and even dangerous exercise.
The idea of sustained caloric restriction, however, is probably stupid. You just want variable intake, not low intake. First of all, the studies are only of rats and worms. Secondly, the studies fail to control for the fact that the starved animals get more exercise whereas the well fed animals languidly sit around.