Friday 4 November 2011

EAT LESS - LIVE MORE!

I know what you're thinking, "obvioulsy eating less junk means I will  live longer", but I'm talking about eating less food in general, not just the unheralthy stuff. In fact up until very recently it was actually an unproved theorythat eating less food would make us live longer! It has been discovered that eating less can actually prolong our lifespans. By only having 3-4 small meals per day actually slows the aging processes in our cells and so increases our potential lifespan considerably!

"We're getting closer and closer to a good understanding of how caloric restriction works. This study is the first direct proof for a mechanism underlying the anti-aging effects we observe under caloric restriction," said Tomas A. Prolla at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

A calorie-restricted diet that still provides all the nutrients necessary for a healthy life but minimizes the energy (calories) supplied in the diet has been proven to delay the onset of age-related chronic diseases such as cancers, heart disease, and strokes. There are also hints that people who eat a calorie-restricted diet might live longer than those who overeat. In addition, calorie-restricted diets beneficially affect several biomarkers of aging, including decreased insulin sensitivity (a precursor to diabetes).

I know what your thinking how does less calories lead to a longer life span?
Well a major factor in the age-related decline of bodily functions is the accumulation of "oxidative damage" in the body's proteins, fats, and DNA. Oxidants (in particular, chemicals called "free radicals") are produced when food is converted to energy by cellular structures called mitochondria. Under reduced-calorie conditions, levels of Sirt3 increase, altering metabolism and resulting in fewer free radicals produced by mitochondria that are the sources of highly reactive forms of oxygen, which damage cells and promote the effects of aging.
"Caloric Restriction in non-obese people leads to less oxidative damage in muscle cells", according to a new study by Anthony Civitarese and Eric Ravussin,(Pennington Biomedical Research Center). As oxidative damage has been linked to aging, this could explain how limiting calorie intake without malnutrition would see more of us living long and healthy lives. 

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