A significant study recently published in the scientific journal Nature has discovered that consuming fewer calories can significantly increase lifespan. But how much less should one eat? Let’s explore what the research reveals!
Breakthrough Study on Longevity
For nearly a century, laboratory studies have consistently shown that animals that consume less food or eat less frequently tend to live longer. However, scientists have yet to understand why calorie restriction extends lifespan and how to effectively apply this knowledge to humans.
Now, researchers at the Jackson Laboratory in the United States (JAX) have monitored the health of mice fed various diets to delve deeper into these questions.
A diet with only 60% of basic caloric intake significantly increases lifespan. (Photo: Pexels).
The study was carefully designed to ensure that each mouse had distinct genetic traits, better reflecting the genetic diversity of humans. This approach enhances the relevance of the results, marking it as one of the most significant contributions to aging and longevity research to date, according to the scientific platform Scitech Daily.
How Much Should You Eat to Maximize Longevity?
The research involved 1,000 mice, divided into five groups based on their diets, as follows:
- Ad libitum feeding.
- Consuming only 60% of basic caloric intake daily.
- Consuming only 80% of basic caloric intake daily.
- Fasting for one day each week but eating freely on the remaining days.
- Fasting for two consecutive days each week but eating freely on the remaining days.
The mice were subsequently monitored throughout their lifetimes with periodic blood tests and comprehensive health assessments.
The results revealed:
- Mice with ad libitum feeding lived an average of 25 months.
- Mice that fasted for 1-2 days each week lived an average of 28 months.
- Mice consuming 80% of basic caloric intake lived an average of 30 months.
- Mice consuming 60% of basic caloric intake lived an average of 34 months, according to Scitech Daily.
The results also show that maintaining weight while consuming fewer calories leads to the longest lifespan. (Photo: Pexels).
However, there was a wide range of lifespans within each group. For example, the mice consuming the least calories had lifespans ranging from a few months to 4.5 years.
From these results, it can be concluded that a diet with only 60% of basic caloric intake significantly increases lifespan.
When investigating the reasons for such a wide range of lifespans, the authors found that genetic factors had a much greater impact on longevity compared to diet. This suggests that genetic traits play a crucial role in how diet affects health and lifespan.
Another noteworthy finding was that the results also indicated that mice that maintained their weight and did not lose body fat lived the longest.
The researchers concluded that a calorie-restricted diet helps extend the lifespan of mice. Surprisingly, the longest-lived mice on a calorie-restricted diet lost the least weight despite eating less. In contrast, those that lost the most weight due to calorie restriction tended to have lower energy, weakened immune systems, reproductive issues, and shorter lifespans.
The lead researcher, Professor Gary Churchill from JAX, stated that this study highlights the importance of resilience. The healthiest animals maintain their weight even when calorie intake is restricted, and these are the animals that live the longest. The study also suggests that moderate calorie restriction could be a way to balance health and extend lifespan, according to Scitech Daily.
