Note to readers and people replying: This is only for discussion purposes. I don't intend to sway anyone away from bodybuilding/weightlifting. I myself have not been affected by this knowledge. I still go to the gym frequently, eat loads and sweat it out!

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To start off, biogerontology is a fairly new area of research. Experimental studies in model organisms (C. elegans, D. melanogaster, M. musculus) have shown that:

1. A higher metabolism causes you to age quicker. This is consistent with the most popular theory of ageing: the free radical theory of ageing. The basic idea of the theory is that a higher metabolism results in greater energy expenditure. As we all know the powerhouse of the cell (so fondly named by all biology students) is the mitochondria. Energy is generated via the electron transport chain (ETC). However, coupling in the ETC is not perfect and thus, the generation of free radicals that can potentially damage DNA, protein, lipids etc.

The free radical damage is a viscious cycle. Once the mitochondria DNA (mtDNA) is damaged, the poor repair mechanisms causes mutations to accumulate with age. As you may be able to deduce by now, increased energy expenditure by a higher metabolic rate _would_ in fact cause you to possibly age quicker. This is assuming that this theory is true.

2. Corroborating the idea of free radical theory of ageing is the rate of living theory, whereby your lifespan is measured by oxygen consumption in litres/kg (also known as life energy potential - LEP) throughout your entire lifespan. It has been speculated that mammals have a constant value for the life energy potential. This was demonstrated in squirrels and horses. Despite huge differences in maximum lifespan, the LEP for both animals were about the same (60,000 l/kg).

Hence, a higher metabolic rate would limit your lifespan because you would reach your life energy potential quicker.

3. Larger animals have shorter lifespan. Big dogs die quicker. Birds live longer for their size. A study of baseball players (controlled for affluence, a major factor in today's measure of lifespan) showed that BMI was inversely related to lifespan. For every ~kg, there was a reduction in lifespan of 5 months.

4. Dietary restriction (DR) was shown to extend lifespan in model organisms. It was demonstrated that DR delays the onset of late life diseases such as cancer, diabetes, hypertension, autoimmune disorders. DR also slows age related decline in blood glucose control, fecundity, muscle mass, DNA repair and learning ability, to name a few. However, this has not been successfully demonstrated in humans, although it should be noted that Okinawans from Japan have the highest number of centenarians (or super-centenarians) to date. Their diet is largely responsible for this. They eat in moderation (children 60% less and adults 20% less when compared to world wide data).

@cofactor3: The concept of DR is not being a glutton. If you eat right you will be okay, I believe. In fact, there are reduced rates of such ageing related conditions like you have described with Okinawan Japanese.

-One thing interesting about the Japanese diet is the focus on tofu, fish, green tea and lastly, seaweed. The seaweed may just be the last food ingredient left to really study. Green tea and tofu gain acceptance in worldwide culinary but not so seaweed. Coming from the sea, it would have an abundance of nutrients that wouldn't be found in land-grown vegetables due to the the richness of the sea compared to the depletion of the landsoil for farming.

Cheeky monkey here...

The text is on taste lah, not about health benefits lah.

It's currently a merry-go-round because the Westerners haven't yet figured out how is it that Japanese ppl can take so much salt and MSG in their diet and still live so long? This includes having majority of their male population having high blood pressure, heavy smokers and drinkers and yet statistically, compared to countries worldwide, they still have less heart problems.

So even though seaweed does contain MSG, how is it that their people doesn't seem to have the violent reaction that others do? Probably the combination of diet and exercise (they walk a lot, even in the city).

Sabarlah kawan. U need to be more positive lah, instead of bitter.

Sarcasm doesn't become u. And there I was, thinking that was hope.

The first claim is by sheer observation, considering that it's the Western researchers who did a 180 degree turn when it came to the health benefits of weight training.

2nd claim on MSG contributing violent reaction : should have been written as extreme. By observation of ppl around you who are sensitive to MSG is good enough claims. I've had friends and relatives who either have fainted or agitated from the effect of MSG. Don't u? If you haven't, count yourself lucky.

However, why the seaweed doesn't give that same reaction? It could be that the MSG is not in it's purified + crystallize form as the MSG used for cooking. Or it could be that there's other stuff in the seaweed that negates the bad effects of MSG when eating seaweed. Hypothetical.

And you will keep waiting.

LOL! If that's your best shot, you must seriously be running out of ideas now.

Yup my father is like a live MSG detector too. Everytime I go to eat something new with him he can detect whether the food has MSG or not, he's very sensitive to it. No fainting or anything of that sort but, still has negative effects.

cofactor-3 : Then you just have to wither and wait then. Because you're obviously unwilling to even share much until the other party has posted. So wait.

One thing about food enhancers is that most of them aren't in the foods unless it's processed food. Not all food enhancers are available in the market, not to mention that it may not seem practical to go and identify it down to the individual component and then erase it out from the menu.

myremi: Indeed, very cool stuff. The Japanese are smart people indeed. I wish I could contribute more but exams nearing. I will await patiently for your review.

Sigh. The only reason I stop dealing with you is because you wouldn't give a damn anyway. So what is the point? All I see is a bitter man who takes pleasure in making others feel miserable.

Meh enough.

I wonder if you really know what you're saying when you say that I'm drawing this out of proportions. For I do not take low-blows method that you do. If you feel that my conversation with pizzaboy is one of it, then so be it. Getting victimized is something that I don't relish so why shouldn't I speak to the mods about it?

In any event, my final post on this topic on MSG in terms of food safety.

There are controversial studies at this point of time when it pertains to MSG. Yes, there are, apparently, other food enhancers in the market but the most common would be MSG.

http://www.foodsafety.gov/~lrd/msg.html
http://www.fda.gov/FDAC/features/2003/103_msg.html

These are overview of studies done by the FDA (the latest being the one in 1995) that even though they could not conclude firmly that MSG was detrimental to health, the reaction of an unknown number of people warranted them to instruct food manufacturers to declare for glutamate substances, be it MSG or other types of food enhancers.

Note that Obama has also requested that food labelling system maintained by FDA be reviewed (http://www.truthinlabeling.org/). One area will probably be this.

Some of the different types of food enhancers worldwide :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flavour_enhancer

Another link about MSG is here : http://www.msgtruth.org/

The reaction of MSG lead to the study of Excitotoxicity (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Excitotoxicity) which included reactions to aspartame.

Research links are included at the end of wiki pages and the various links above.

So, have digress enough. You can find whatever reasons to flame bait or blackball me so it's making no sense to further answer your queries.