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Research Paper|Volume 3, Issue 4|pp 374—379

Long-term calorie restriction, but not endurance exercise, lowers core body temperature in humans

Andreea Soare1,2, Roberto Cangemi1,3, Daniela Omodei1,4, John O. Holloszy1, Luigi Fontana1,5
  • 1Division of Geriatrics and Nutritional Sciences and Center for Human Nutrition, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri, USA
  • 2Department of Endocrinology and Diabetes, University Campus Bio-Medico, Rome, Italy
  • 3Department of Experimental Medicine, University of Rome “La Sapienza,” Italy
  • 4CEINGE Biotecnologie Avanzate, Napoli, Italy
  • 5Division of Nutrition and Aging, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy
Received: March 21, 2011Accepted: March 26, 2011Published: March 27, 2011
https://doi.org/10.18632/aging.100280

Copyright: © 2011 Soare et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Abstract

Reduction of body temperature has been proposed to contribute to the increased lifespan in calorie restricted animals and mice overexpressing the uncoupling protein-2 in hypocretin neurons. However, nothing is known regarding the long-term effects of calorie restriction (CR) with adequate nutrition on body temperature in humans. In this study, 24-hour core body temperature was measured every minute by using ingested telemetric capsules in 24 men and women (mean age 53.7±9.4 yrs) consuming a CR diet for an average of 6 years, 24 age- and sex-matched sedentary (WD) and 24 body fat-matched exercise-trained (EX) volunteers, who were eating Western diets. The CR and EX groups were significantly leaner than the WD group. Energy intake was lower in the CR group (1769±348 kcal/d) than in the WD (2302±668 kcal/d) and EX (2798±760 kcal/d) groups (P<0.0001). Mean 24-hour, day-time and night-time core body temperatures were all significantly lower in the CR group than in the WD and EX groups (P≤0.01). Long-term CR with adequate nutrition in lean and weight-stable healthy humans is associated with a sustained reduction in core body temperature, similar to that found in CR rodents and monkeys. This adaptation is likely due to CR itself, rather than to leanness, and may be involved in slowing the rate of aging.