An expert on the benefits of caloric restriction, will be the guest speaker Friday, April 1, at the University of Nebraska Medical Center’s Denham Harman, M.D., Ph.D., Lectureship in Biomedical Gerontology.
John Holloszy, M.D., is a professor of medicine and director of the section of applied physiology in the Division of Geriatrics and Nutritional Sciences at the Washington University School of Medicine (WUSM) in St. Louis.
The talk will address the benefits of long term calorie restriction — eating less food with a high caloric content such as food with sugar, bakery foods, ice cream or other high calorie deserts, or meat with a high fat content.
The lecture, sponsored by the UNMC Department of Internal Medicine’s Division of Geriatrics, will be held at noon in the Durham Research Center Auditorium and is open to the public. Lunch will be provided for the first 250 attendees.
“Calorie restriction protects against type 2 diabetes and atherosclerosis/coronary heart disease, by markedly lowering blood pressure and the bad LDL cholesterol, while raising the good HDL cholesterol,” said Dr. Holloszy. “It also reduces the risk of developing cancer and slows and partially reverses the effects of aging on the cardiovascular system.”
But the diet isn’t for everyone, Dr. Holloszy said.
“Severe calorie restriction requires a very high degree of motivation and dedication which makes it impossible for most people,” he said. “However, even mild calorie restriction, sufficient to maintain normal weight and avoid obesity, has significant health benefits.”
Dr. Holloszy received his medical degree and later completed his residency and fellowship training in internal medicine and endocrinology. He served two years in the U.S. Public Health Service, completed postdoctoral training in biochemistry and has been serving on the faculty at WUSM for 40 years.
For more information on calorie restriction, go to: http://www.calorierestriction.org or http://www.nutribase.com/crsociety.shtml.
The Harman lecture was established in 2002 by the University of Nebraska Foundation in honor of Dr. Harman, Emeritus Millard Professor of Medicine at UNMC, who is known internationally as the father of the Free Radical Theory of Aging. He proposed the theory in 1954 and discovered the role of antioxidants (vitamins C, E and beta-carotene), in fighting heart disease, cancer, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease.
Through world-class research and patient care, UNMC generates breakthroughs that make life better for people throughout Nebraska and beyond. Its education programs train more health professionals than any other institution in the state. Learn more at unmc.edu.
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