Monday, January 26, 2009

CR on 60 Minutes

Last night a few CR Society members were featured on CBS' top news program 60 Minutes. The episode was brief and focused on Resveratrol being "easier" than CR despite some excellent results. It was billed as CR in a pill.

There were also a lot of the same tired old kooky CR Society executive members there. Not a single non-caucasian person or anyone younger than 50 seemed to be there. CR was highlighted as a constant state of hunger (which my CR is not). And the food choices of the Society members seemed to provoke discussion on being different and "weird". In my mind, the CR Society members focused on here were not at all representative of the people I know on CR nor were their eating habits. There is a wide variety of approaches to CR and that fact largely gets ignored. So does the fact that hunger does not need to be a major component of it.

As such, I'm advocating that people contact 60 Minutes and let them know about their take on the episode. At the very least we can let 60 Minutes know that it is a growing and important social trend that they (and CBS) should pay more attention to.

Here is their contact info:
60m@cbsnews.com

60 Minutes
524 West 57th St.
New York, NY
10019
(212) 975-3247

Some potential talking or discussion points (which include suggestions by RS - thanks):
  • unlike Resveratrol, there's a LOT of independent, disinterested lab research behind CR
  • CR is free, not costly like Resveratrol or other drugs would be
  • CR is here now, and not five years away (like Resveratrol)
  • it's an evolutionary adaptation, not a foreign chemical like the one Sirtris is developing for patentability - therefore, it's a natural approach unlikely to have unintended side effects
  • the CR represented in the segment does not represent CR overall
  • CR does not have to include excessive or uncomfortable hunger
  • CR teaches us to purposely feed ourselves and there is innate pleasure being closely linked to your food and often its production
  • CR is not just for longevity-crazed old men with attractive wives - there are some in their 20s like Matthew Lake

Well, this list could go on forever and you likely have your own ideas but at least I may have got you started.

Best of luck!

1 comment:

  1. I dont practice cr but follow it and agree why did they have the creepiest CR'ers ever on there?? they did not look healthy.

    ReplyDelete