Thursday 20 June 2013

Research Finds New Health Benefits of Restricting Calories

most studies linking diet with health and longevity focused on calorie restriction. They have had some impressive results, with the life span of various lab animals lengthened by up to 50 percent after their caloric intake was cut in half. But these effects do not seem to extend to primates.

Decades ago, in the 1930s, researchers working with lab rats made an interesting discovery. Animals that had been deprived of food seemed to live longer than rodents that were fed to satisfaction, raising the intriguing idea that maybe near-starvation was a good, rather than bad thing, for health.                                                                          
                                           
There is a consensus among health benefits calories professionals that avoiding obesity can help us live a long and healthy life. Now, two new studies add to evidence that it’s possible to live longer and healthier by restricting calories. Previous studies have found that rats which were placed on a very low-calorie diet lived up to 30 percent longer, and scientists have been working to see if that translates to humans.

Is it a good idea to “starve” yourself just a little bit each day? The evidence suggests that yes, avoiding eating around the clock could have a very beneficial impact on your health and longevity.

We've been told since we were children that we need to eat three square meals a day. But new research shows that we don't need to be eating throughout the course of the day. And in fact, it might even be undermining our health. These insights have given rise to what's known as "intermittent fasting" the daily restriction of meals and caloric intake. Health Benefits Here's why some health experts believe you should starve yourself just a little bit each day.

Scientists have found that calorie restriction a diet composed of approximately 30 percent fewer calories but with the same nutrients of a standard diet does not extend years of life or reduce age-related deaths in a 23-year study of rhesus monkeys. However, calorie restriction did extend certain aspects of health.

Calorie restriction research has a long history. The first finding came in the 1930s, when investigators observed laboratory rats and mice lived up to 40 percent longer when fed a calorie-restricted diet. Subsequent research has cited calorie restriction as extending lifespan of yeast, worms, flies and some strains of mice. But other studies have not shown a longevity benefit

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