Can reducing calorie intake slow down aging?

A new study investigates whether calorie reduction could be a way to slow down aging. In a first-of-its-kind, randomized, controlled human study, scientists have looked at a single biomarker to show it could.

In promising results, the researchers of a recent study found that reducing calories resulted in a 2–3 per cent slowing of participants’ pace that some molecules attached to their DNA, or their epigenome ages.

The authors cite previous research that equates the 2–3 per cent rate decrease to a reduction in mortality risk of 10–15 per cent. This is similar to the risk reduction expected when a smoker quits smoking.

Exploring calorie reduction as a way to slow down aging is a test of the geroscience hypothesis. It suggests that by slowing down or reversing aging-related molecular changes, a person’s lifespan may be extended and they may be able to avoid serious chronic diseases.

The study’s senior investigator Dr. Daniel W. Belsky, associate professor of epidemiology at Columbia Mailman School of Public Health, said:

“Our results are exciting because they suggest it may be possible to slow the pace of aging in humans. That opens a lot of doors to what we might be able to do in the years ahead.”

The researchers of the current study employed a precision calorie-reduction and assessment system called “CALERIE.” CALERIE is an acronym for “Comprehensive Assessment of Long-Term Effects of Reducing Intake of Energy.” It is very different from what one would find in a diet for weight loss based on reducing one’s intake of calories.

The authors note the study’s calorie reduction was carefully designed to lower energy intake without depriving participants of essential nutrients.

“This was a complicated intervention that involved teams of nutritionists and dietitians working with participants to design diets that worked and physicians monitoring participants’ health to ensure safety,” said Dr. Belsky.

The study’s trial took place at three sites, and initially involved 220 healthy men and women. Men were ages 21–50, and (premenopausal) women were ages 21–47. For two years, 145 participants were tasked with achieving a 25 per cent calorie reduction in the CALERIE program compared to their baseline caloric intake level. Forty-five individuals served as a control group.

The number of individuals who finally completed the trial was 117 people in the CALERIE group and 68 in the control group.

To measure the effects of CALERIE, the researchers depended on three age biomarkers, or “aging clocks”: PhenoAgeTrusted Source, GrimAgeTrusted Source, and DunedinPACETrusted Source. All are based on DNA methylationTrusted Source that can be measured in blood samples.

MNT