The Secret of Longevity?

Calorie Restricted Diet: The Secret of Longevity? [i]

         Cutting back on calories is now a growing research subject. In 1983 researchers found that lab mice dieted “… with all needed nutrients but with fewer than 30 to 60 percent fewer calories led to longer life and better health.”  Further;  “The National Institutes of Health report that “…under nutrition has increased life spans of nearly every species studied—protozoa, fruit flies, mice, rats and other laboratory animals.”  Further  “Many studies now exist to support the effects of calorie restriction for longer life and healthier old age.”

         Calorie restriction is important in several different areas including:  age related declines in DNA repair and keeping lowered body fat and blood sugar levels.

         You’ve read this so far. What do you think? The author, at the end, says, “Calorie restriction may not gain wide adoption among humans. But studies of calorie restriction reveal some of the mechanisms that lead to aging and disease in later life.”

         Reading this material made me think of the song “Who Wants To Live Forever

              

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[i]  By M.L. Walford; in Mark Novak, (2006) ISSUES IN AGING  In Chapter 5 Personal Health and Well-Being, Page 126  ISBN 0-205-4398-7