It's somewhat refreshing to see an article on general health and aging in the mainstream press that demonstrates plain common sense. From the Washington Post: "Despite the constant promotion of products claimed to extend life and prolong vigor, nothing you can buy in a box, bottle or tube has been shown to extend anything other than your credit card balance. ... You've probably heard about promising research, in animals and to some early degree in humans, about benefits of severe caloric restriction - say, cutting daily calories by about a third. ... the results on smaller caloric-restriction studies in humans have been stunning: Cholesterol levels, blood pressure and other major risk factors for heart disease plummeted, along with risk factors for diabetes."

Link: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/01/AR2005080101244_pf.html