Dietary approaches that delay age-related diseases.

Reducing food intake in lower animals such as the rat decreases body weight, retards many aging processes, delays the onset of most diseases of old age, and prolongs life. A number of clinical trials of food restriction in healthy adult human subjects running over 2-15 years show significant reductions in body weight, blood cholesterol, blood glucose, and blood pressure, which are risk factors for the development of cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Lifestyle interventions that lower energy balance by reducing body weight such as physical exercise can also delay the development of diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

Life extension by calorie restriction in humans.

Long-term reduction in energy intake in the diet (calorie restriction [CR]) extends the life of the laboratory rat by about 25%. However, in humans there are no life-long studies of CR, but only short-term trials which indicate that 20% CR acting over periods of 2-6 years is associated with reduced body weight, blood pressure, blood cholesterol, and blood glucose--risk factors for the major killer diseases of cardiovascular disease and diabetes. In addition, recent research has shown that CR for 6 months is able to improve biomarkers for longevity (deep body temperature and plasma insulin) and thus should increase life expectancy.

Caloric restriction reduces age-related pseudocapillarization of the hepatic sinusoid.

Age-related changes in the hepatic sinusoid, called pseudocapillarization, may contribute to the pathogenesis of dyslipidemia. Caloric restriction (CR) is a powerful model for the study of aging because it extends lifespan. We assessed the effects of CR on the hepatic sinusoid to determine whether pseudocapillarization is preventable and hence a target for the prevention of age-related dyslipidemia.

Caloric restriction versus drug therapy to delay the onset of aging diseases and extend life.

There are two firmly established methods of prolonging life. Calorie restriction (CR) using nutrient-rich diets to prolong life in lower animals, and life saving medications in humans to delay the development of the major diseases of middle and old age. These two approaches have different mechanisms of action.

Food restriction, pituitary hormones and ageing.

Reducing the intake of food in rodents inhibits body growth, retards most physiological ageing processes, delays the onset of pathology and prolongs life. Food restriction (FR) reduces pituitary hormone secretion and in consequence has been called 'functional hypophysectomy'. Direct life-long comparisons in the rat showed that hypophysectomy (HYP) (a complete absence of pituitary hormones) has a greater anti-ageing action than FR (a partial lack of pituitary hormones) on collagen, kidney and muscle.

Differences in muscle fiber growth in slow-twitch muscles of the forelimb and hindlimb of the rat: role of the pituitary and food intake.

This investigation tested the hypothesis that differences in the growth of fore- and hindlimb muscles in the rat are regulated by the pituitary and food intake. Using morphometric techniques, the growth of muscle fibers was compared in two slow-twitch muscles, the flexor carpi ulnaris (FCU) of the forelimb, and the soleus of the hindlimb, in male Wistar rats fed ad libitum, food restricted (FR) or hypophysectomized (hypox) from age 60 days. Growth was defined as an increase in fiber diameter and/or type 1 fiber percentage.