Originally Posted by
Carbonfiberboy
That's an interesting point. We have many built-in systems for dealing with times of no food. Of course. The question really is though, do those who have food insecurity live longer than those who don't? The statistics are pretty devastating. It's the other way, they don't live as long.
That is correct. I deal with some degree of food insecurity from economic difficulties and mental issues from past trauma on top of it. But because of riding and some training, it's even worse, I feel hunger quite often even if I'm doing nothing.
Anyway, fasting or low calorie diet alone (forced or not), won't make you live long or longer. The quality of the food also counts and often, the healthiest foods that are actually quite palatable tends to be expensive. Obviously those with food insecurity would have very limited food options and likely nutrition would be of poor quality.
Lastly, food insecurity is strongly connected to economic stability and quality of life. It's very obvious. Those who deal with food insecurity would have little to no financial stability, low quality of life and quite possibly dealing with very high levels of stress on a daily basis.
Stress is a killer. It seems to dictate the lifespan quite strongly regardless of how healthy or unhealthy you are with other aspects of life. I know so from my poor relatives and now me. If I haven't been riding, I'd be dead by now at 40 from heart attack or stroke from too much stress. Just before I took on riding, I nearly had a heart attack from high levels of stress. So I started exercising. The high levels of stress I deal with daily did not go away but my heart is healthier and no longer does that thing like it wanted to quit on me and can't breath.
I know plenty of obese who live very long lives. 80+ Because they deal with very little stress. I think the only stress they deal with is boredom. I think some might say boredom is a serious source of stress but believe me most rich and bored people live very long lives unless they O'Ded on drugs or crashed their lambo or helicopter into flames. Poor people on the other hand, dealing with intense stress, struggling to play bills and problems cause by economic difficulties, they tend to die around the age of 60 even if they're eating very little. Ironically, an early death could even be a blessing. Who would want to live long dealing with huge amount of stress and either physical or mental pain everyday? No one.