The Russian Astronaut's Diet

This one is not for the faint-hearted. BellaOnline has a small feature about the Russian Diet in it's Russian culture section. This a VERY low calorie diet (about 600 calories per day) and is based on the seaweed kelp:

The Very Low Calorie Health System by Dr. Galina Shatalova keeps being successful for already three generations of Russians. There are quite a few mysterious theories concerning the System around its early days, but the facts were always stubborn, the numbers of followers were growing steadily...

The Russian diet has such "mouth-watering" recipes as this:

Early Spring Greens with Kelp Sauce

Ingredients
A bunch of parsnip greens
2-3 young black currant leaves
2-3 young gooseberries leaves
1 young horseradish leaf
A spring of young Lubistock or celery
Fresh squeezed lemon juice

Instructions
Finely chop the greens; add the Kelp Sesame sauce by taste. Can be used as a side dish with whole grain dishes

There are many people who feel that severe caloric restriction is the path to long life (such as the Calorie Restriction Society).

The trouble is - food can actually be enjoyable. A long life of denying myself of most food? No thanks.