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Looking for the Fountain of Youth? Cut your calories, research suggests |
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From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: New Saint Louis University research suggests cutting back on calories could be a promising strategy. Calorie restriction has long been shown to slow the aging process in rats and mice. While scientists do not know how calorie restriction affects the aging process in rodents, one popular hypothesis is that it slows aging by decreasing a thyroid hormone, triiodothyronine (T3), which then slows metabolism and tissue aging. A new study in the June 2008 issue of Rejuvenation Research, found that calorie restriction -- cutting approximately 300 to 500 calories per day -- had a similar biological effect in humans and, therefore, may slow the aging process. "Over recent years, there has been a huge amount of debate about whether calorie restriction slows the aging process in humans," said Edward Weiss, Ph.D., associate professor of nutrition and dietetics at Saint Louis University's Doisy College of Health Sciences and lead author of the study. In the current study, Weiss wanted to know if calorie reduction would lower T3 levels in humans. To determine if the lowered levels of T3 were a result of calorie restriction and not decreases in fat mass in general, Weiss also recruited volunteers to lose weight through exercise. They were in otherwise good health and did not have cardiovascular disease, diabetes, lung disease, uncontrolled hypertension and evidence of malignancy. When cutting calories, Weiss warns that it is imperative to maintain a healthy diet by eating nutrient-rich foods. Today the Doisy College of Health Sciences offers degrees in physical therapy and athletic training, clinical laboratory science, nutrition and dietetics, health informatics and information management, medical imaging and radiation therapeutics, occupational science and occupational therapy, and physician assistant education.
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