Aging-US: The key for anti-aging: calorie intake vs food quantity
10-25-2021Aging-US published "Calorie intake rather than food quantity consumed is the key factor for the anti-aging effect of calorie restriction" which reported that although calorie restriction has been reported to extend lifespan in several organisms, animals subjected to calorie restriction consume not only fewer calories but also smaller quantities of food.
Here, the authors subjected mice to five dietary interventions. Mice fed isoquant diet with fewer calories showed maximum lifespan extension and improved health among all the groups, suggesting that calorie intake rather than food quantity consumed is the key factor for the anti-aging effect of calorie restriction.
Dr. Zhao Wang from The Tsinghua University said, "Calorie restriction (CR), commonly defined as a 20-40% reduction in calorie intake, is one of the most effective interventions for the modulation of aging."
It is reported that calorie restriction extends both the maximum and average lifespan of many organisms investigated, including yeast, nematodes, fruit flies, and mice. In contrast, a high-calorie diet shortens the lifespan of mice and leads to cardiovascular diseases, obesity, and other metabolic disorders associated with aging. Thus, reduced calorie intake may not be the key determinant of extended lifespan in rodents by dietary restriction. It was reported that time-limited feeding can prevent metabolic disorders in mice fed a high-fat diet without reducing calorie intake.
It was reported that time-limited feeding can prevent metabolic disorders in mice fed a high-fat diet without reducing calorie intake
Apart from the nutritional composition and feeding time, there is also a parameter that the authors have overlooked in previous studies. The order of lifespan of mice feeding different regimens are as follows:
125% high-calorie diet fed ad libitum,
normal-calorie diet ad libitum,
normal-calorie diet at 80% of the normal food quantity,
125% high-calorie diet at 80% of the normal food quantity, and
80%-calorie diet fed at the normal food quantity
Figure 6. Midlife liver gene expression correlations with lifespan are predictive of aging regulators. (A) GO analysis of target genes with expression levels that are most positively correlated with the lifespan. (B) GO analysis of target genes with expression levels that are most negatively correlated with the lifespan. (C) Gene network modules depicting the pathways and genes that are most positively correlated with the lifespan. (D) Gene network modules showing the pathways and genes that are most negatively correlated with the lifespan. (E) mRNA expression of genes that are significantly positively correlated with the lifespan. (F) mRNA expression of genes that are significantly negatively correlated with the lifespan.
Apart from lifespan, calorie restriction delays the development of some aging-related diseases including diabetes, cancer, atherosclerosis, neurodegenerative and respiratory failures, thus increasing the healthspan, so the authors also investigated the effect of sole calorie or quantity intake restriction on the healthspan.
The Wang Research Team concluded in their Aging-US Research Output, "our results highlight a great potential for calorie restriction to counteract aging and aging-associated metabolic disorders. Low-calorie food at normal food intake is healthier and more effective at preventing aging and aging-related diseases than calorie restriction at food intake restriction. That is, eating low-calorie food is better than eating less. This work has significant implications for the application of calorie restriction to humans."
Full Text - https://www.aging-us.com/article/203493/text
Correspondence to: Zhao Wang email: zwang@tsinghua.edu.cn
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