I’m not sure it’s really paradoxical. Consuming and metabolizing food creates oxidative stress, and caloric restriction slows down your metabolism. As much as 2

I’m not sure it’s really paradoxical. Consuming and metabolizing food creates oxidative stress, and caloric restriction slows down your metabolism. As much as 21.4% over just two weeks [1], sometimes permanently [2]. Which is also why dieting fails the vast majority of people people, as they experience it as a plateau [3]. Eating less reduces your need for food ('adaptive thermogenesis'), and hence total oxidative stress load. This almost certainly reduces your risk of cancer and also more than likely slows aging. [4] [1] https://journals.physiology.org/doi/abs/10.1152/jappl.1958.12.2.230 https://journals.physiology.org/doi/abs/10.1152/jappl.1958.1... [2] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27136388/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27136388/ [3] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5764193/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5764193/ [4] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5927356/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5927356/