New research may dampen the enthusiasm of anyone looking to extend their lifespan by restricting their caloric intake. Though laboratory rats on calorie-restricted diets can live up to 35 percent longer than their gluttonous counterparts, and previous research on rhesus macaques hinted at modest increases in longevity for dieting primates, data from a long-term prospective study on macaques paints a more nuanced picture.
Published today (August 29) in Nature, research performed at the National Institute on Aging (NIA) suggests that calorie restriction may provide some health benefits, but does not increase lifespan more than a sensible diet.
The finding “is probably an indication that the paradigm for [calorie restriction] work will have to be reshaped,” said William Swindell, a geneticist at the University of Michigan who did not participate in the research.
Increased longevity has been a hallmark of calorie restriction—the reduction of caloric intake by 10 to 40 percent—since ...
