Late last year, a TV production company filmed a new reality program in England. Nine volunteers set up camp in the Paignton Zoo in Devon, next to the ape house and for 12 days, ate like the apes did. This meant that they consumed nearly 11 pounds of fruits and vegetables a day as part of a three-day rotating diet that was designed by a nutritionist. They also were given small amounts of honey and nuts, and during the second week ate some cooked fish.

On average, each of the participants lost 10 pounds and experienced significant reductions in blood pressure and cholesterol. The majority of the participants signed up because they were experiencing health concerns and needed to do something drastic in order to improve their health.

I realize that this is sort of old news, but I just heard about it and I found it intriguing. I'm also very curious if this will become one of the many reality TV shows exported to the United States. Americans are willing to try a variety of drastic measures to lose weight. Will eating like an ape be one of them?

photo by Marisa McClellan

Controversial piece at Slate (written by a former anorexic, Kate Taylor) that compares calorie restriction diets to anorexia itself.

She links to several New York Times articles that seem to show that calorie restriction extends the lives of monkeys and mice and is now being tested on humans too.

I'm not an expert in healthy weight management, beyond the usual "reduce your calories, eat correctly, and exercise regularly" that we always hear. It's interesting to hear a former anorexic talk about how she's confused by all of the talk that a "low metabolism" might actually be good for you, though I think comparing the two is a stretch.

Here's a follow-up piece, where Taylor talks about the Calorie Restriction Society and how that might be a different kind of "eating disorder." You should also read the message boards at the end of the piece.

According to research, it you are going to pig out it should be on regular food, not fast food. In a study where monkeys were fed a diet consisting mostly of  trans-fats, the types of fats most commonly found in fast foods, the primates gained more weight than those fed the same number of calories containing unsaturated fats.

Trans-fats, or partially hydrogenated oils, are bad news. They are found in many fast foods, baked goods and processed snacks. They have been shown to significantly increase the risk of heart disease, even more than saturated fats found in animal products.

After maintaining the monkeys on the fat laden diet for six years, the trans-fat-fed monkeys had gained 7.2% of their body weight, compared to just 1.8% in the group who ate unsaturated fat. CT scans showed that the trans-fat monkeys carried 30% more abdominal fat, which is a risk factor for diabetes and heart disease. Although the data might prove informative to some fast food eaters, I can't help but feel bad for those poor monkeys.

What do you get when you cross Super Size Me with a Purina Dog Food commercial? You get The Monkey Chow Diaries.

For one week (it started this past Saturday), this guy is going to eat nothing but ZuPreem Diet Primate Food. And he's keeping a blog of it, of course! Check in every day to see if he's still alive, if he's suffering from cravings, and if he's turned into a monkey or something.

One week? Come on, even Spurlock did McDonald's for a month!

[thanks to Brian for the tip]

The monkeys at Budapest Zoo must be some of the happiest in captivity! Their feeding times are enlivened with a quantity of red wine each day; although there have been no instances of drunken brawls or other lewd behaviour.  

They are fed 55 liters of red wine each year as a health measure to boost their red blood cell count. It is mixed in with their tea, so as not to be served in one hit. Sadly for the chimps, the wine is not of any great quality, just "simple table wine" according to the report.

So images of fine Bordeaux or Burgundy being sloshed around a chimps tea party are rather far from the truth. Budapest Zoo, incidently, was founded in 1866 making it is one of the oldest zoos in the world.