PITTSBURGH -- It seems as if everyone is on some sort of diet. Millions of dieters are cutting carbs. But would you be willing give up more than just carbs?

Would you be wiling to follow a near starvation diet, if it gave you a chance to live 100 or beyond? One local man said yes to the idea of cutting calories to live longer.

Outwardly, Dean Pomerleau, 39, of Treesdale, seems pretty normal. He's got a job, a wife and two kids.

"I'm a bit unusual," he said.

Once you learn about his eating habits, you may agree.

"I effectively eat just under 2,000 calories a day. I eat a very large salad, top that with a tomato paste and olive oil salad dressing and throw in some protein (and) then some fruit and nuts and that's basically what I eat two times a day, 365 days a year," Pomerleau said.

He follows a calorie-restricted diet, or CR for short. He's not doing it to lose weight, although he has. After four years on a CR diet he's lost 50 pounds and now weighs 119 pounds, which is pretty thin for standing 5 feet 11 inches tall. But he believes the "almost starvation diet" will help him live longer, perhaps to the age of 120.

Pomerleau said, "If you cut back calories, about 30 percent, you gain about 30 percent in your life span. So, it's pretty amazing."

The CR diet is based on studies going back to the 1930s when researchers drastically cut the calories fed to rats and found they lived longer. Since then, tests on everything from fleas to monkeys have had similar results. No human studies have been done yet.

But even if the science pans out, UPMC nutritionist Leslie Bonci said there are other things to consider.

"Everybody's body needs to have a certain number of calories just to maintain an optimal energy level just to maintain an ability for the organs to function maximally. Someone might say, 'I'm living longer but now I have osteoporosis,'" she said.

Pomerleau has some bone loss, but takes supplements and tracks his nutrition intake with special computer software. Bonci said it's this kind of extreme diet can cause more than physical problems.

"The big question is quality of life issues. I don't know how you measure that in a rat or a monkey how happy or unhappy they are," Bonci said.

Pomerleau said he feels great. Emotionally, he said he's much more even keeled than he was before CR. But he admits there are some drawbacks to his diet.

"With fairly serious strict CR, like I practice, myself and a number of others have observed a drop in libido. I'm the first to admit I'm a bit less frisky than I used to be," he said.

It's estimated about 1,000 people are following a CR diet. No one is sure whether it seems to slow-aging. One theory is that by cutting calories, a body produces fewer substances that may speed up the aging process.

Visit the following links for more information on the CR diet.

Dean Pomerleau's Web Site
calorierestriction.org