Quote from dan on July 14, 2020, 12:31 pm

"We each ate more than a pound of sweet potatoes a day. Through time, we worried that the beta carotene that gives them and bananas and carrots their distinctive colors would turn us a disconcerting orange hue. We never noticed any change, but eventually outsiders grew alarmed at our new complexions." https://dartmouthalumnimagazine.com/articles/biosphere-2-what-really-happened

"We ate so many sweet potatoes that we got carotenosis, which is from the beta carotene in the skin, which is why a sweet potato is orange... People would look shocked at our hands because the calluses were literally almost florescent orange. It was quite bizarre." https://www.npr.org/transcripts/6929010

"They did consume a bit of goat milk and meat and eggs about once a week, but otherwise, the diet was mostly vegan. To give you an idea, over the course of the first year, the diet was about 50% sweet potato, and 31% of the fat they consumed was from the bananas." https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/evolutionary-psychiatry/201104/dieting-can-make-you-lose-your-mind-part-2

"Some of the glass panels admitted UV light to help the reptiles survive, but the humans were allowed supplementation with 400 IU vitamin D, vitamin B12, folic acid, 400 IU vitamin E, 500 mg of vitamin C, and calcium. " https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/evolutionary-psychiatry/201104/dieting-can-make-you-lose-your-mind-part-2

"Roy Walford, the medical doctor and researcher in the group, regularly tested the health indices of the crew members. They were constantly hungry and lost 16% of their pre-entry body weight within the first year. However, Dr. Walford’s tests revealed striking results. Surprisingly, the crew health indices seemed to be getting better: their blood cholesterol and pressure dropped, the immune system was enhanced. They indeed lost weight, but the low-caloric diet seemed to slow down their aging process." https://nutrino.co/food-and-longevity-part-i/

"Although weight loss left the crew looking gaunt, most of them said they actually felt healthier. One reason may be that they lost more than weight. After two years on their high-fiber, low-fat, sugar-free diet, their cholesterol levels had dropped from an average of 195, within the normal range, to an astonishing 125. They also experienced declines in blood pressure, white blood cell counts and blood-sugar levels." https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/os-xpm-1994-01-01-9312300063-story.html

"Pre- and post-exit average body temperatures of all crew members were in the normal range of about 98.6F; inside Biosphere 2 they were often in the 96 to 97F range, and sometimes below 96F." https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/7613481/

"He had been fit and vibrant when he entered the capsule, looking far younger than his sixty-seven years. Two years inside had ravaged his body. Perhaps it was the lack of food, perhaps something else, but in photos taken in the Biosphere, Walford is thin to the point of emaciation, his eyes haggard and sunken. He’d lost 25 pounds from an already-lean 145, and he looks much older than the post- Biosphere version of himself, on the right." https://www.businessinsider.com/man-spent-two-years-in-biosphere-2015-3

"Their blood pressures dropped well below the normal value of 120/80, dipping to 89/58. Their ratio of total cholesterol to high density lipoprotein (HDL) remained the same, as both low-density lipoprotein and HDL decreased. HDL cholesterol almost halved, dropping from 62 to 38 mg/dl. Walford was also surprised to find that an unintended consequence of the rapid weight loss was release of chemicals from the breakdown of adipose tissue – significant amounts of toxins, including industrial chemicals and pesticides like DDT and PCBs, had accumulated within their fat after years of exposure and were being released as a byproduct into their blood as the fat was being metabolized for fuel." https://colinchamp.com/calorie-restriction-research/

Studies:

• The calorically restricted low-fat nutrient-dense diet in Biosphere 2 significantly lowers blood glucose, total leukocyte count, cholesterol, and blood pressure in humans https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/1454844/
• Atypical parkinsonism and motor neuron syndrome in a Biosphere 2 participant: a possible complication of chronic hypoxia and carbon monoxide toxicity? https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15077246/
• Calorie restriction in biosphere 2: alterations in physiologic, hematologic, hormonal, and biochemical parameters in humans restricted for a 2-year period https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12023257/
• Food production and nutrition in Biosphere 2: results from the first mission September 1991 to September 1993
  https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11538814/
• Physiologic changes in humans subjected to severe, selective calorie restriction for two years in biosphere 2: health, aging, and toxicological perspectives https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10630592/
• 'Biospheric medicine' as viewed from the two-year first closure of Biosphere 2 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8830939/
• Caloric restriction and aging as viewed from Biosphere 2 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/7613481/