Is *This* Why Women Live Longer?

Science just can't figure out why women live longer than men. As long as detailed records have been kept, across cultures and geography, through disasters natural and man-made, women have outlived men by a significant number of years. Currently, U.S. life expectancy is 80 years for a woman and 75 years for men, and scientists continue to argue over why. They've come up with a boatload of theories, and through the years, they were all shot down.

Early on, they assumed that men who died in wars brought down the average and that was the difference. But the gap didn't vaporize as women entered the armed services. Then scientists posited that the dangers of leaving home to go to work, or the dangerous working conditions themselves, caused it. But once again, women in the workforce didn't close the gap. Then it was women being more open to medical help. Then smoking. Then stress. Then genetics. And finally, more recently, it's supposedly the risky things men do to catch the eye of a potential mate ("Hey baby, watch *this* -- Arrrrrggggghhhhhh...")

A recent study that made the case in favor of the risky behavior idea actually revealed a significant a flaw in the argument. It stated that our declining overall mortality rate would tend to put more emphasis on risky behavior as a factor in the longevity gap. However, if that were true, the gap would be *growing* as risky behavior took out more and more men before their time. But the gap is actually shrinking, not growing, so behavioral differences are not the cause.

No doubt there are lots of stupid human tricks that put guys at risk. (I might have done one or two myself. Maybe even three or four... hundred.) But I think science is on the wrong track on this question. The answer has been sitting right under their noses for decades, and frankly, I'm surprised they missed it.

The answer is in the food. Or more specifically, in how *much* food is eaten by men and women.

Doctors have known for decades that semi-starvation diets can extend one's life. Might not be as much fun to live that way, but for at least 70 years, it has been a well-chronicled and analyzed fact. Some studies have shown that mice can live 40% longer on strict, starvation-level diets. And studies of humans showed many health benefits of eating a lot less (as little as 1,000 calories a day). And in fact, they are very close to understanding of how starvation unlocks longevity (link).

So how, you may ask, does this add up to longer lives for women than men? The answer is simple: many more women diet than men, and women diet more often than men during their lifetimes. A recent British study revealed that the average U.K. woman spends 31 years of her life on one diet or another, while the average British man diets only 28 years. The lifespan gap is 80 to 75, just as in the U.S., so there very well could be a connection.

And when you delve deeper into the situation, consider that women who diet multiple times in their lives would increase their lifespan by more each time they went on a new diet. Because as their bodies got used to fewer calories on one diet, they would have to lower their caloric intake even further to lose weight the next time. And that cycle only gets better (or worse, depending on your perspective) the more dieting they do. And 31 years is a heck of a lot of dieting.

(Note: I am not advocating starving yourself or going on and then off diets just to live longer. I'm simply stating my opinion that a longer life could be one of the effects of doing so. Always consult someone much smarter than me before undertaking a diet -- your doctor.)

I think my theory of the starvation effect explains the longevity gap a lot better than anything I've read. Maybe scientists just didn't think about the whole person when considering the difference. Maybe they just missed it in their rush to explain what they didn't understand. But whatever the reason, they missed it. And now that I pointed it out, they can study it and find out if it's close to the truth or just the latest theory to be disproven.

Oh, and what to do if you're a man who wants to close the longevity gap? Try closing your mouth for one meal a day. Might not be the way you want to go through life, but it could give you a few extra years.

- Scott