Recent studies have some in the medical community raising their eyebrows and asking hard questions. The studies focus on a type of "diet" called Calorie Restriction and claim that reducing caloric intake may slow down the aging process. But is Calorie Restriction actually an unrecognized type of eating disorder?

"Although we don't know yet whether the longevity benefits extend to humans, a number of people have put themselves on draconian diets in the hope of living loner. They refer to their regimen as CR (calorie restriction) or CRON (calorie restriction with optimal nutrition), and they call themselves CRONies... Like anorexics, CRONies discover in starvation an apparent solution to their problems: a source of energy (at least at first), a sense of purpose, and relief from stress."

Thus far, no one from the eating disorder field has adequately explained the difference between calorie restriction and anorexia; why one is an accepted type of diet while the other is an eating disorder.

Read more at Slate.com.

Labels: anorexia, calorie_restriction, dieting