Can Cutting Calories Increase Longevity?

Humans have enjoyed a remarkable increase in lifespan over the past century. Much of this progress is due to the discovery of antibiotics and the elimination of a number of infectious diseases, especially those occurring in childhood. In spite of these gains, much about the biology of aging, per se, has remained cloaked in mystery until lately.

Scientists are now unraveling these mysteries, uncovering countless clues about how to extend a laboratory animal’s lifespan either by dietary or genetic manipulation. This manipulation allows animals to live long, vital lives into advanced old age. By and large, animals following calorie-restricted diets appear very thin, but well. Their diets, while low in calories, contain all the nutrients needed for good health.

Because voluntary caloric restriction is so difficult for humans to adhere to, caloric restriction is essentially a research tool, designed to learn enough about aging to develop drugs to slow aging. If human aging could be slowed with a pill to the extent now possible in a mouse, the effects on health and life expectancy would exceed that of abolishing cancer, cardiovascular disease, and adult onset diabetes — all together. Aging research has the potential to significantly reduce the suffering of humankind in addition to extending our lifespan.

The scientific prospects and political obstacles involved in extending life are discussed in a review of recent achievements in this field. In the past, most research on aging has been focused on rodents and other short-lived animals. Over the past couple of years, however, exciting studies have been published on non-human primates and even on humans. Much of this research is under the umbrella of the National Institute on Aging.

A thorough understanding of The Basics of calorie restriction biology may be helpful to the layperson not familiar with this complex topic. This can be followed by a review of the research taking place in labs all over the world. Some of the most current research is described in some detail under the What’s Hot section, while older research can be found in the Archives.

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