Cut Down Daily Calories to Age Gracefully

60 to 16 Health-wise!

If there was a pill to make a person stay young eternally, that would be the most sought-after one by people across the globe. You end your day on a happier note when you receive compliments such as ‘You look younger for your age’, ‘Your mom looks like your elder sister’ or ‘You become more and more beautiful as you age’. Looking young or remaining vibrant even in your late 50s and 60s is not a distant dream. A new research suggests that cutting calories by 15% for two years can diminish metabolic process that leads to aging and protect against age-related diseases.
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Age-related Study
The researchers first needed answers to 2 questions:

• What kind of calorie restriction could study participants stick to-diet only, exercise only or 50% diet and 50% exercise?
• What level of calorie restriction would produce the desired effect?
  
  

The research team studied people located across three different locations implementing the three kind of calorie restrictions to each of the groups. At the first location, the study group decided to reduce the calorie intake of the study group by 25% through diet alone. Women aged between 25 and 45 and men aged between 25 and 50 were recruited. Half the study participants were normal-weighted and the other half were overweight but not obese. Instead of calculating daily calorie intake of participants and reducing it by 25%, weight loss was used to calculate the total reduction in calories for each participant over time. The participants did not achieve the 25% target as assumed but reached 15% calorie restriction over a period of two years. Participants lost an average of 9 kilograms by the end of one year and maintained the loss during the second year. It also decreased sleeping metabolic rate by about 10%.

Slower Metabolism
One assumption is that aging in humans is inversely related to metabolic rate. Metabolic rate is the rate of metabolism, the amount of energy used by an animal per unit of time. Increase or decrease in metabolic rate is said to affect weight loss in a strong way. Read more on metabolic rate and its impact on weight loss at www.firsteatright.com. Researchers feel that a slowed metabolism means that the body has become more efficient in using fuel from food or oxygen to derive energy. Each time energy is derived, byproducts are generated. These byproducts (called as oxygen radicals) accumulate in the body and damage cells and organs in due course of time. This damage leads to a shortened lifespan. Calorie restriction not only slowed metabolic rate of participants but also decreased levels of oxidative damage and improved healthy aging.  

In a society where lifespan is already on the upper side in the recent decades, people now are concerned about ageing healthily as they are about living long.