Zeno's Bar & Grill

This is either really, really depressing, or else really good news. It depends on how good you are at dieting.

The New York Times reports on studies in monkeys and mice showing that restricted calorie diets decrease aging. Okay, that's not entirely new, we've heard it before. But this time...there are pictures. As you can see, the monkey on a restricted diet (left) looks perky and fit, the animal version of Kate Hudson or something, while the monkey who eats the average diet (right) looks more like Kate Hepburn in her declining years.

Then, there's the human--a 36-year old guy profiled in the article, who has been on a restricted diet for six years. He eats a lot of tofu, and he looks about thirteen years old, so apparently it's working. And here I was, feeling smug, after my RealAge profile showed that my RealAge was three years younger than my biological age. That's it. Bring on the tofu, I'm through with those namby pamby antioxidants and vitamins.

Thankfully, at the end of the article there are some naysayers to make the rest of us feel better. They claim the benefits may be only a 2-7% longer lifespan, or even no benefit at all.

I can't decide whether to call Jenny Craig or have another jelly doughnut.

Actually, my real plan is to make friends with David Copperfield, since he claims to have found the Fountain of Youth on his new property.

--Melanie