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Watch for The Alternate-Day Diet, G.P. Putnam & Sons, publisher, in bookstores April 10!
What is the Johnson UpDayDownDay Diet™?
It is an adaptation of an experimental model used in animal research. For 70 years scientist have recognized that animals fed 30 – 40% less calories than normal live 40% longer. In May 2003, an article was published showing that mice fed every other day had profound health effects which exceeded those seen in mice fed 40% less than normal every day.
Dr. Johnson invented a method which achieved these results in humans with the UpDayDownDay Diet™. Humans are generally unable to restrict their caloric intake even a modest amount on a daily basis. However, most motivated people can restrict themselves on an every other day basis to 50% or less of their normal calories. The discovery of this aspect of human behavior is the key to success. In other words we are able to do for one day what we are unable to do every day.
The scientific basis of our human experience is described in the article titled The effect on health of alternate day calorie restriction: Eating less and more than needed on alternate days prolongs life (see article).
On the “up” day you eat whatever you want and as much as you want. It is important to feel satisfied.
On the “down” day, you limit your intake to between 20% – 50% of normal. A guide to your caloric needs and a method to calculate the number of calories to consume is available here.
You might expect to be hungrier after a down day, but our research has shown that appetite is normal or decreased on the morning of an up day.
We strongly recommend using only commercially prepared meal replacement shakes for the first two weeks. This conditions you in several ways which promotes success.
SIRT1 Causes These Amazing Effects
The every-other-day period of low calorie intake is a form of mild stress which the cells of the body sense and respond to by turning on a gene called SIRT1. SIRT1 then activates many other genes which have health promoting effects, including reduced inflammation, lower free radical stress, improved insulin resistance, and better mitochondrial function. Taken together, these effects are anti-aging and anti-disease. To maximize SIRT1 activation, you should follow the JUDDDD and take eResveratrol (www.eResveratrol.com) supplements.
SIRT1 activation also causes fat loss by releasing fat from fat cells around our organs. It also prevents cell death from free radicals by stopping a protein called bax from causing cell suicide. In addition, SIRT1 activation prolongs life.
Longer life with better years
Animal studies show that calorie restriction, either daily or every other day, greatly improves health and prolongs lifespan. Simply living longer without good quality of life is of little interest to most people. In humans, there is a prolongation of vital active years among those in the best health.
The UpDayDownDay life style
The negative effects of the chronic over consumption of food are the biggest health problems we face. This over consumption is increasing worldwide as food cost declines. In this environment of ever-increasing food availability, the vast majority of us will gain weight unless we take a defensive approach to restrain our eating. The JUDDDD can be followed as an ongoing life style to maintain a (low) healthy body weight, which otherwise creeps upward gradually. Even when ideal weight is not reached, the UpDayDownDay pattern imparts much better health.
Prevention and treatment of disease
Based on a variety of sources of evidence, following the Johnson UpDayDownDay Diet™ will prevent, delay or improve a wide range of diseases associated with age. These include asthma, arthritis, atherosclerosis (heart disease, stroke), allergies, auto-immune disease, infectious diseases of viral, bacterial and fungal origin, diabetes, cancer and central nervous system disorders such as Alzheimers, Parkinson’s and multiple sclerosis.
We have completed the first human trial on the treatment of disease (asthma) with the JUDDDD and the results (see article) will appear soon in the peer-reviewed journal Free Radical Biology and Medicine. The study demonstrated marked improvement in symptoms in asthmatics and drastic lowering of free radical damage.
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About James B. Johnson, M.D.
 James B. Johnson, M.D. practiced plastic surgery for over 20 years in the New Orleans area. An innovator and published researcher, he has maintained a career-long interest in preventive medicine and the science of calorie restriction. Although he was inspired by the potential health benefits of alternate day feeding, Dr. Johnson found the Johnson UpDayDownDay Diet™ to be the answer to his personal weight control struggle. The diet confers profound health benefits and makes compliance possible for anybody. He is the author of the forthcoming book published by Penguin/Putnam, The Alternate-Day Diet™ (formerly titled Johnson Up Day Down Day Diet™) and various scientific articles on alternate day calorie restriction including the first (see article) publication describing the use of the diet to treat a disease. Evolving science indicates that the health effects of the diet are due to activation of the SIRT1 gene, the principal regulator of lifespan. Dr. Johnson continues research into the diet and the SIRT1 activator resveratrol.
Weight Loss
We believe that the Johnson UpDayDownDay Diet™ differs from all other weight loss methods in the rate of “fat recidivism”, the tendency to regain lost weight. We think this is the result of a unique state of mind which develops after following the diet for a few weeks.
The natural history of diets is that the vast majority of people, perhaps 95% of those who are able to lose any weight at all lose less than 5% of their body weight over a period of few weeks, then go off the diet and gain the weight back within months, often gaining some additional weight. With Johnson UpDayDownDay Diet™, a different state of mind is created which will change your perception of dieting forever. Because of the ease of getting on and off the diet, there is no failure. Your effort is focused on only one day and you never have the endless horizon of deprivation. You are always starting over. You can plan your life around the schedule of “down” days and enjoy your life again, without constant guilt and frustration.
Reduction of oxidative stress
Oxidative stress (damage) is the ongoing damage to our proteins, lipids and DNA due to free radicals which are generated under normal conditions. Oxidative stress is the basic source of aging and diseases associated with aging. We found striking reduction in measures of oxidative stress in an eight week study (see article) of subjects following our diet. The chart below shows a 90% decline in nitrotyrosine levels over an eight week period. Nitrotyrosine is a commonly used indicator of oxidative stress. It is elevated in people with heart disease and has been shown to be 100 times more sensitive an indicator of impending heart attack than the standard Framingham risk factors - cholesterol, blood pressure, etc (see article).
The chart shows the average values for dieting subjects by comparing the serum nitrotyrosine level after an up day (light colored bars) with the level after a down day (dark colored bars). The blood samples were obtained on two consecutive days during the eight week study – days 1 and 2, days 15 and 16, days 29 and 30, days 57 and 58.
Note that:
- Most of the decline occurred by day 30.
- There is a significant reduction in nitrotyrosine after a single down day. That is, comparing day 1 to day 2, day 15 to day 16, day 29 to day 30, and day 57 to day 58.
- The final values for the group were remarkably similar and very low.
Other markers of oxidaive stress and inflamation were also dramatically reduced. No other dietary intervention or drug has been shown to produce this degree of reduction in oxidative stress. This suggests that following this pattern of eating will have more profound effect on health than the specific composition of the diet.
Low levels of oxidative stress are probably essential to reaching old age by preventing disease. At least two studies (see articles i & ii) have shown lower levels of oxidative stress in individuals 100 years old than in individuals 70 years old indicating low oxidative stress may be required to reach advanced ages.
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