Publications of Special Interests - May 2016

Article Index

Tom Samaras Publication of Interest

World Nutrition recently published a commentary by Samaras: Human growth, height, size: Reasons to be small.

The commentary described the various reasons that a world population of shorter and lighter people would  improve our health and increase our chances of long-term survival. For example, smaller people require less energy, food, water, minerals, and metals. While a few tall individuals are not a problem, the world trend in increasing body size requires huge increases in various resources. In addition, bigger people produce more garbage, pollution, carbon dioxide and global heating. Thus, when environmentalists focus on how many people the earth can support but ignore their average size, they are missing a major portion of the problems related to a growing human population.

Tom sees a diet that focuses on producing long-term health and longevity as the best way to ensure a higher life quality and improves the chances of long-term human survival. Thus, he thinks that promoting increased birth weight, rapid growth and reaching one’s maximum height potential harms the individual and humanity because numerous studies have found that a well-balanced but reduced calorie diet promotes health and longevity. Nutritional scientists need to develop recommendations that will produced healthy infants, children and adults without excessive growth in height and weight.

Tom also points out that increased body size aggravates our economic woes because bigger humans require so many more resources and the diet that produces bigger size also promotes chronic diseases. The world cannot sustain the increasing medical costs related to the present trend towards greater weight and illness. In a previous paper, he found that a 20% increase in height with the same body proportions as we have now, will increase costs by $3 trillion per year in the US alone.

The paper also summarizes the achievements of shorter-than-average people.

Paper Published by Samaras

The Journal of Chinese Clinical Medicine recently published a special report by Samaras: Ramifications of increasing birth weight, accelerated growth and greater height on health, the obesity epidemic and longevity.

This paper evaluates the harmful impact of increasing birth weight, accelerate growth, early sexual maturation and increased height and body weight on our health, chronic disease and longevity. These factors are also examined in terms of their impact on the obesity epidemic and health care costs.

The biological factors related to body size and longevity are summarized. These include telomere reduction, cell replication, DNA damage, heart problems, relative organ size and exposure to increased toxins and bacteria.

New information on the relation of the Great Depression, famine, caloric restriction, plant based diets, animal protein consumption, and longevity is also presented. The physical characteristics of centenarians is also reviewed.

Other Publications of Interest

Thomas T. Samaras, Commentary. Human growth, height, size: Reasons to be small, World Nutrition, 2011, 2,3:108-135. To read the article click here. For translation in 21 languages of this commentary click here.

Thomas T. Samaras, Ramifications of increasing birth weight, accelerated growth, and greater height on health, the obesity epidemic, and longevity, Journal of Chinese Clinical Medicine, 2010, 5(8): 433-449. To read the article click here.
(Note: At lower right below Abstract, press HTML or PDF to see entire paper.)

Killewo J, Heggenhougen HK, Quah SR (eds) Epidemiology and Demography in Public Health, San Diego, Academic Press, 2010. Longevity in Specific Populations, TT Samaras, pp. 415-420.