Episode Open
Eat Less - Live Longer
The Clock of Life
Wisdom of the Worms
How to Make a Nose
Use It or Lose It
EPISODE OPEN
ALAN ALDA: This laboratory mouse has lived much longer than normal, and it
won't be long before humans can do the same. On this edition of Scientific
American Frontiers, science begins to explore how we get old, and how we can
avoid it.
ALAN ALDA: (Narration): We'll see how we could keep our bodies' cells young
forever. We'll discover how nature governs lifespans, in worms and maybe
people, too. We'll find out how to grow spare parts for aging bodies. And we'll see
how eating less makes a long life, while doing more makes a happy one.
ALAN ALDA: I'm Alan Alda. Join me now for Never Say Die.
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EAT LESS - LIVE LONGER
ALAN ALDA: We may not like it, but this is where we all end up after our allotted
span. This is Albertine -- she lived 62 years; Sarah -- 45 years; Joseph -- 74
years. Many different ages, but you won't find any past about 120, and the
average right now is in the seventies. But what if I told you, you wouldn't have to
check in here until you were 150 years old? 200? 250? Right now a lot of serious,
smart Scientists are beginning to say that's what's possible. They're starting to
understand the details of what makes us age, right down to the level of our DNA.
It's becoming realistic to think about intervening in the aging process. Already
there are astonishing results with lab animals, with some living 4 times as long as
normal. In this program, we'll be meeting Scientists whose work may help us live
longer -- a lot longer. And we'll also be asking what it would be like to live a lot
longer -- would life be worth living? But how do we get there? How do we get to a
longer life? This first way may surprise you...
ALAN ALDA: Hello… Hi Dr. Walford? Glad to meet you. How are you? I brought
my lunch.
ROY WALFORD: Oh you did, great.
ALAN ALDA: (Narration): I've come to see Roy Walford, in Venice, California. For
30 years, Dr. Walford has been studying the relationship between food and long
life.
ROY WALFORD: I think it would be better if it were like whole wheat bread. I
would say that's two slices of white bread.
ALAN ALDA: Let's see what else I have. You probably don't like this. Sometimes
I like something crunchy while I have a sandwich.
ROY WALFORD: Well pretzels are empty calories so, I don't like that.
ALAN ALDA: How about pickles?
ROY WALFORD: OK. That's all right.
ALAN ALDA: Well this is all just for taste. How do you feel about mustard?
ROY WALFORD: It doesn't add much in the way of calories unless you use a
huge amount.
ALAN ALDA: (Narration): For Walford, watching calories is only one of the keys.
He believes if you eat less, you'll live longer -- so long as you make sure that
what you do eat has high nutritional value. I'm aiming to make a pretty lo-cal
lunch -- no more than 500 calories.
ALAN ALDA: You use a lot of calories getting the pickle jar open you know.
ROY WALFORD: Yes, that's the whole point. That's your exercise.
ALAN ALDA: This is about it. This is what I could…now, now, let's see that
wouldn't be enough though. I'd still be interested in more. I'd probably eat five or
six of these pretzels. I would take the salt off the pretzels. I don't like to eat a lot
of salt. Then I would have probably, to make myself feel better, I'd either have
about four ounces frozen yogurt or ah, if I was feeling really healthy, health
minded, I'd have an apple. Let's say an apple.
ROY WALFORD: Okay.
ALAN ALDA: I would give myself the benefit of the doubt.
ROY WALFORD: Okay.
ALAN ALDA: (Narration): Now let's see what kind of nutrition my lo-cal lunch
delivers.
ROY WALFORD: Let's see, turkey breast-no skin, roasted is about as close, and
you didn't have half a breast but maybe a quarter of a breast. You added a piece
of tomato in that.
ALAN ALDA: Yeah, two little slices of tomato.
ALAN ALDA: (Narration): When you add it all up, I did fine on the calories -- but
that's about all.
ROY WALFORD: What you had is deficient in A, B12, C, E, folic acid and
panithinic acid. Among minerals it is deficient in calcium, copper, magnesium,
manganese and zinc.
ALAN ALDA: And what's that big tall yellow one? What's that?
ROY WALFORD: Well that means it has a great deal of sodium.
ALAN ALDA: Oh, I'm doing fine with the sodium. OK.
ROY WALFORD: And you have too much cholesterol
ALAN ALDA: Where'd I get that from? The turkey?
ROY WALFORD: From the turkey probably, yeah.
ALAN ALDA: (Narration): But here's what goes into Walford's lunch. Every one of
his 500 calories packs a high nutritional punch.
ALAN ALDA: How did you first get interested in this?
ROY WALFORD: I got interested in this kind of nutrition because it's been known
since 1935 that if you keep animals on a very low calorie diet but one that is not
deficient in vitamins and so forth, you extend their maximum lifespan and their
average lifespan.
8 сен 2024
