Eat Less, Live Longer

by Dr. Di Pasquale

The connection between eating less and living longer has been known to researchers since the 1930s when a Cornell University nutrition professor unexpectedly discovered that dieting rats tend to live 30 percent longer. If that's the case with animals, then it might be true with humans too. This is the premise behind the calorie restriction diet (CR).

The connection between eating less and living longer has been known to researchers since the 1930s when a Cornell University nutrition professor unexpectedly discovered that dieting rats tend to live 30 percent longer. Same results have been found with fruit flies, monkeys and Labrador Retrievers. If that's the case with animals, then it might be true with humans too.

''Aging is a horror and it's got to stop right now,'' said Michael Rae, a vitamin researcher from Calgary, Alberta, and a board member of the Calorie Restriction Society, which has about 900 ultralean members worldwide. ''People are popping antioxidants, getting face lifts and injecting Botox, but none of that's working,'' he said. ''At this moment, C.R. is the only tool we have to stay younger longer.'' It's worth mentioning that Mr. Rae is 6 feet tall, weighs just 115 pounds and is often very hungry.

Advocates of C.R., insist they're not dieting to get skinny but rather to have the last laugh. Eat smart enough, they say, and you can live to see great-great-grandchildren, not to mention postpone the onset of cancer, diabetes, heart disease and kidney failure.

War and Food

Historical data supports this idea. During the first and second World Wars, the shortage of food in some northern European countries led to a sharp decrease in mortality from coronary artery disease, Type 2 diabetes and cancer, according to Dr. Luigi Fontana, a geriatrics researcher at Washington University in St. Louis. Those rates surged again after the wars, he said. Likewise, on the Japanese island of Okinawa, where residents have traditionally followed a diet similar to that of C.R., an unusually high number of people have lived a century or more.

Even the US government had entered the picture. Investing $20 million to see if the regimen really works for people

Just how exactly does CR works, nobody has the the complete picture yet. Scientist knows for sure it goes beyond the mere health benefits of being thin. They compare it to hibernation; physical processes that cause wear and tear on the body are drastically slowed. Some suspect eating less slows the rate of cell division in tissues. Others theorize that hunger triggers a survival mode, activating genes that help resist stress and protect vital organs. Meanwhile, biogerontologists are racing to invent drugs that mimic the effects of calorie restriction without all the carrots and cottage cheese.

One leading theory says it works by curbing cellular pollution. When cellular ''factories'' convert food to energy, they release byproducts known as free radicals. These biochemical ruffians wreak havoc on cells, genes and tissues and have been blamed for age-related changes ranging from crow's-feet to increased cancer risk. When a body metabolizes fewer calories, it's like a car that uses less fuel — there's less free-radical pollution.

CR also may reduce levels of sugar in the blood, suppress hormones that promote cell growth and rouse genes that promote longevity. Any or all of these factors could play a part in slowing the aging process.

Does being stressed help you be healthy?

Researcher Mark Mattson's pet theory is the ''healthy stress'' hypothesis. A neuroscientist at the National Institute on Aging (NIA) in Baltimore, Mattson showed CR protects mouse brain cells from developing Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases. He also found that feeding mice every other day extended their lives as much as slashing total calories, even though the mice gorged themselves on feeding days. He took this to mean that hunger, whether temporary or chronic, subjects the body to a healthy form of stress that makes cells hardier. Think of the cardiovascular benefits of wind sprints.

To prove that eating less calories do indeed lengthen human lifespan, Dr. Mattson will begin in January the first major study on the long-term effects of meal skipping on humans. Men and women between the ages of 40 and 50 will be screened to see how blood pressure, cholesterol, immune function and other markers respond to one daily meal versus three. Another institute study already underway at three university research centers (Washington University, Tufts and Louisiana State) is looking at whether lighter meals reduce the risks of age-related chronic diseases — like heart disease and Alzheimer's — and lead to longer and more productive lives. The one-year studies will first test whether a 30 percent restricted diet is doable and safe for a few hundred volunteers. Sneaking ice cream won't work; researchers are using a metabolic test to determine exactly how many calories people eat. 

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