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[Gene GeRue <genegerue AT ruralize.com>]

In 1986, being exceptionally happy with life, I bought and read The 
120-Year Diet, by Roy Walford, MD. Walford relied primarily on rat 
research to make his case that caloric restriction increases 
longevity. He advised to find your "set point," the weight level your 
body set after you were fully mature but still with youthful vigor, 
late twenties or early thirties, and then very gradually lose weight 
over the remainder of your life. Ingesting fewer calories requires 
being sure to get enough vital nutrients. I remember an objection I 
had to his system was that his suggested menus included exotic 
ingredients likely available only in big cities. And all his research 
was on rats. Well! Rats are to humans as quack grass is to tomatoes, right?

Now comes new work on the same subject but this time with primates. 
Some of you don't do the required New York Times registration, so 
here are excerpts from this morning's article. The article is titled:

One for the Ages: A Prescription That May Extend Life.

"In a laboratory at the Wisconsin National Primate Research Center, 
Matthias is learning about time's caprice the hard way. At 28, 
getting on for a rhesus monkey, Matthias is losing his hair, lugging 
a paunch and getting a face full of wrinkles.
"Yet in the cage next to his, gleefully hooting at strangers, one of 
Matthias's lab mates, Rudy, is the picture of monkey vitality, 
although he is slightly older. Thin and feisty, Rudy stops grooming 
his smooth coat just long enough to pirouette toward a proffered 
piece of fruit.
"Tempted with the same treat, Matthias rises wearily and extends a frail hand.
"This approach, called calorie restriction, involves eating about 30 
percent fewer calories than normal while still getting adequate 
amounts of 
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/health/diseasesconditionsandhealthtopics/vitamins/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier>vitamins, 
minerals and other nutrients. Aside from direct genetic manipulation, 
calorie restriction is the only strategy known to extend life 
consistently in a variety of animal species.
"How this drastic 
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/health/diseasesconditionsandhealthtopics/diet/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier>diet 
affects the body has been the subject of intense research. Recently, 
the effort has begun to bear fruit, producing a steady stream of 
studies indicating that the rate of aging is plastic, not fixed, and 
that it can be manipulated.
"In the last year, calorie-restricted diets have been shown in 
various animals to affect molecular pathways likely to be involved in 
the progression of Alzheimer's disease, 
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/health/diseasesconditionsandhealthtopics/diabetes/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier>diabetes, 
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/health/diseasesconditionsandhealthtopics/heartdisease/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier>heart 
disease, Parkinson's disease and 
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/health/diseasesconditionsandhealthtopics/cancer/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier>cancer. 
Earlier this year, researchers studying dietary effects on humans 
went so far as to claim that calorie restriction may be more 
effective than exercise at preventing age-related diseases.
"The calorie-restricted organism is stronger, according to this 
hypothesis, because individual cells are more efficiently repairing 
mutations, using energy, defending themselves and mopping up harmful 
byproducts like free radicals."

By the way, Roy Walford died of Lou Gehrig's disease in 2004 at age 79.

And, yes, the original saying was, "living well is the best revenge."

Take your pick. Or go for both. It's a choice.

The article may be found at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/31/health/nutrition/31agin.html?8dpc 
> From genegerue AT ruralize.com  Tue Oct 31 10:46:39 2006
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Subject: [Homestead] Wastewater costs 340 times Colorado River water
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Believe it or don't, water out West has now become so valuable that 
Prescott Valley, Arizona is auctioning rights to its wastewater, the 
water that ostensibly recharges aquifers in the area. For those not 
familiar, new development proposals in Arizona must prove where their 
100-year water supply will come from.

The wastewater auction bidders will be subdivision developers. Tell 
me again about that real estate bubble.

Wastewater auction is the next step in state growth

Shaun McKinnon
The Arizona Republic
Oct. 31, 2006 12:00 AM

Prescott Valley will stretch water supplies to new lengths this week 
when it auctions the rights to some of its treated wastewater to 
buyers who could use it to build subdivisions.

The auction, the first of its kind in this country, will create a new 
source of water for growth in a part of Arizona that has nearly used 
up its existing reserves.

Bidding starts Wednesday and ends Thursday. On the block is enough 
water to support nearly 6,000 homes and more, if apartments or 
condominiums are built.

The treated wastewater won't flow directly into homes but will 
percolate into aquifers, recharging them as wells supply the new homes.

Bidders will determine the final price, but the town has set a 
minimum bid of $28,000 per acre-foot, or roughly 340 times the cost 
of Colorado River water in the Phoenix area. An acre-foot equals 
325,851 gallons.

Selling the rights to effluent marks a major advance in the use of 
recycled water, which until now has been limited to irrigating golf 
courses or parks.

If the auction succeeds, it could also help speed the transformation 
of water from a public resource to a commodity that is traded, bought 
and sold on the open market.

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/1031water-auction1031.html