On the other side, careful menu planning brings about an approach entitled CRON-Calorie Restriction with Optimal Nutrition.
The basic idea is to eat a reduced amount of food (about 70–80 percent of the amount required to maintain "normal" body weight) while still consuming all of the necessary amounts of vitamins, minerals, and other necessary nutrients.
The only restriction is the total amount of energy (calories) that is consumed.
While being difficult to practice, this approach has a lot of scientific merit for being able to extend average life spans of
many species of animals including rats, mice, fish, and possibly primates (currently being tested).
Along with this life span extension is a reduction in chronic diseases that are common to mankind, reviewed in Hursting et al [6].
A recent meta-analysis of 14 experimental studies found that energy restriction resulted in a 55% reduction in
spontaneous tumors in laboratory mice.
Calorie restriction inhibited induced mammary tumors in mice and suppressed implanted tumor growth and prolonged survival in energy restricted mice.
Among Swedish women who had been hospitalized for anorexia nervosa (definitely lower caloric intake, but not adequate
nutrition) prior to age 40, there was a 23% lower incidence of breast cancer for nulliparous women and a 76%
lower incidence for parous women.
So, too many calories is definitely counter-productive, and slightly less than normal is very advantageous.