Cutting calorie intake reduces the risk of premature death
Monkeys on a restricted diet are 2.9 times less prone to disease
Are three times less likely to die young than those who eat what they want
By Emma Innes
Published: 04:17 EST, 2 April 2014
Reducing calorie intake by just 10 per cent could make people live longer, new research suggests.
U.S. researchers believe cutting calorie intake could slow the ageing process and make people less prone to disease.
They say it could also reduce the risk of premature death.
Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have spent 25 years studying the effect of diet on ageing in monkeys.
They found that monkeys fed a restricted diet have a significantly lower chance of early death and of age-related disease.
The study of 76 rhesus monkeys, which was performed at the Wisconsin National Primate Research Center, involved the monkeys being given a diet with 30 per cent fewer calories.
These monkeys were compared to others that were allowed to eat as much as they wanted.
The results showed the monkeys that were allowed to eat as much as they wanted had 2.9 times the risk of disease.
They also had a threefold increased risk of early death.
The research in monkeys followed previous studies in rodents and flies which revealed that restricting calorie intake, while continuing to supply essential nutrients, extends lifespan by as much as 40 per cent.
The researchers now say the findings could lead to the development of drugs that could have a similar effect on the body as calorie restriction.
‘We study caloric restriction because it has such a robust effect on ageing and the incidence and timing of age-related disease,’ said author Rozalyn Anderson, an assistant professor of geriatrics.
‘Already, people are studying drugs that affect the mechanisms that are active in caloric restriction. There is enormous private-sector interest in some of these drugs.’
The findings of the Wisconsin researchers contradict a 2012 study which suggested calorie restriction did not improve survival rates in monkeys.
However, they believe this could be because in the previous study, the control animals were actually also on calorie-restricted diets meaning their risk of disease and early death was also reduced.
Ricki Colman, a senior scientist at the Wisconsin Primate Center, who co-leads the project, said: ‘In Wisconsin, we started with adults. We knew how much food they wanted to eat, and we based our experimental diet on a 30 per cent reduction in calories from that point.’
In contrast, he says, the 2012 monkeys were fed according to a standardised food intake chart designed by the National Academy of Science.
This, he says, actually amounts to calorie restriction.
As the 2012 monkeys that were fed according to a standardised chart, which resulted in a slight reduction in calories, lived for as long as those on a heavily restricted diet, the researchers believe a calorie restriction of as little as 10 per cent could meaningfully improve life expectancy.
While the findings are significant, the researchers say they do not recommend that people cut their calorie intake below the recommended level.
They say they carry out the research to delve into the underlying causes of age-related disease susceptibility.
‘We are not studying it so people can go out and do it, but to delve into the underlying causes of age-related disease susceptibility,’ says Dr Anderson. ‘It’s a research tool, not a lifestyle recommendation, but some people get caught up: “What if I did caloric restriction?”’
Many of the benefits of caloric restriction are linked to regulation of energy, Dr Anderson added. ‘It affects how fuel is utilised. Caloric restriction essentially causes a reprogramming of the metabolism.
‘In all species where it has been shown to delay ageing and the diseases of ageing, it affects the regulation of energy and the ability of cells and the organism to respond to changes in the environment as they age.’
The Wisconsin researchers say one of the most dramatic findings related to diabetes.
They say many of the control animals developed diabetes or pre-diabetes but that, until two years ago, there was no evidence of diabetes in any of the monkeys on a restricted diet.
Very few people could tolerate a 30 per cent reduction in calories, but Professor Richard Weindruch insists the Wisconsin study carries an optimistic message.
He said: ‘The basic biology of caloric restriction in rodents, worms, flies and yeast seems to carry over to primates, so we have a real opportunity to dissect that mechanism, look at how we can work with that basic biology, and benefit all those human primates who are so closely related to our rhesus monkeys.’
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— Last Edited by Dixie at 2014-04-02 21:22:00 —
