Caloric diet in old age

2001/09/05 Imaz Amiano, Eneko - Elhuyar Zientziaren Komunikazioa

• Dietetika/Elikagaiak
• Osasuna

The University of California Stephen Spindler team has published the results of their research. Despite not knowing why, since the 30s we already knew that not eating too many calories is beneficial for health and that you live longer. One of the theories is that based on oxygen free radicals: in the digestion of food, especially fats, oxygen radicals are released that, because they are toxic in themselves, cause damage to the genes, the more calories and more years, the greater the effect of radicals.

Now, researchers have seen that the genes of older laboratory mice change with caloric diet. And these changes lead them to live longer.

With 44% fewer calories in mice, it is observed that they account for half of the changes associated with age. To his surprise, the diet of a few weeks (with mice in the four-week diet) and the lack of long-term calories throughout life have similar effects. Of course, they still don't know how long the benefits of the last minute instant diet last.

Liver gene activity of 11,000 mice has been analyzed. Data on brain and muscle aging were previously collected. With age, it increases the activity of stress and inflammatory genes and decreases anticancer activity. Reducing calories, both long and short-term, reduces these and other changes.

The calorie reduction per mouse has been equivalent to 1,115 calories for a human who eats 2,550 calories.

The research will be published in the 11th of September in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.