A surprisingly competent article from the Examiner, barring the normal exaggeration of the difficulties of practicing calorie restriction (it's nowhere near as hard as the press makes it out to be): "With all the scientific data showing the benefits of methionine restriction on longevity in different animal models, is it conceivable to apply this diet in humans? One major disadvantage of caloric restriction is that a high level of non-compliance and a lack of discipline is observed in humans that undergo such a rigorous ordeal. ... On the other hand, an advantage of methionine restricted diets is that studies have shown that in rats fed an ad libitum diets low in methionine achieve significant weight loss and achieve a leaner muscle content suggesting that restricting the quality but not the amount of food may be a key to achieving the anti-aging effects of methionine restriction in humans ... In the end, there is a clear need to perform additional studies to analyze and determine whether the beneficial effects of methionine restriction not only parallels and recapitulates the beneficial effects of caloric restriction but whether converging beneficial mechanisms exists between these two anti-aging intervention therapies." People want to have their cake and eat it too when it comes to the benefits of calorie restriction.

Link: http://www.examiner.com/x-11432-Pittsburgh-Medical-Technology-Examiner~y2009m7d14-Advances-in-aging-research-why-methionine-restriction-is-an-attractive-lifeextension-strategy