For nearly a century, laboratory studies have consistently shown that animals that eat less food, or eat less often live longer.
According to a new study published in the October 9 issue of ‘Nature,’ scientists have struggled to understand why these get kinds of restrictive diets work to extend lifespan, and how to best implement them in humans.
In the long-awaited study appearing in ‘Nature,’ scientists at The Jackson Laboratory (JAX) in the United States and collaborators tracked the health of nearly 1,000 mice on a variety of diets to make new inroads into these questions.
The study was designed to ensure that each mouse was genetically distinct, which allowed the team to better represent the genetic diversity of the human population.
By doing so, the results are made more clinically rel – evant, elevating the study to one of the most significant investigations into ageing and lifespan to date.
The study concluded that eating fewer calories had a greater impact on lifespan than periodic fasting, revealing that very-low-calorie diets generally extended the mice’s lifespan regardless of their body fat or glucose levels—both typically seen as markers of metabolic health and ageing.
Surprisingly, the mice that lived the longest on the restrictive diets were those that lost the least weight despite eating less. Animals that lost the most weight on these diets tended to have low energy, compromised immune and reproductive systems, and shorter lives.