Fact: you are not immortal. However, given the advancement in health knowledge and technology, you may now be able to live for many years. A great example is a study that suggests by restricting your calorie intake, you can reduce the fluctuations of almost a thousand genes related to aging.
Researchers from NY Langone Medical Center presented to a group of health professionals on Monday, November 17, their newest findings about the correlation between intake of calories and aging. The neuroscientists discovered that when you reduce the amount of carbohydrate you consume every day, you can stabilize the genes that are responsible for aging of the body and the brain.
To come up with these results, the scientists experimented on mice, specifically female as they are more vulnerable to develop dementia than their male counterparts. These lab-grown mice consumed a restricted diet where their pellets contained 30% less calories than the control group.
The researchers then assessed the development of the hippocampal region, which is usually the part of the brain that is immediately affected when Alzheimer's disease sets in, using tissues at different periods of the mice's life, especially around the middle and the late stages.
The study is significant since while other researchers point to the same conclusion, the number of genes that had been studied were limited. This current research looked into more than 9,000 gene expressions.
The results, however, don't suggest that calorie restriction can help you look and feel young forever but rather it reduces the chances of developing signs of aging very early. These include serious disorders such as cardiovascular diseases, cancer, dementia or Alzheimer's disease, and type 2 diabetes.
The required calorie intake, nevertheless, depends on a number of factors such as a person's age, height, body mass index (BMI), and weight. Special dietary needs can also affect the amount of calories consumed.
