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Mind Your Calories or
Your Waistline Cutting back the calories may do more than
whittle your waistline; it could protect your brain from the effects of aging. A
new study suggests that calorie restriction can help slow the normal process of
cell death that happens with age. Researchers say the body
naturally goes through a process known as apoptosis, or cell death, to destroy
old cells so new ones can be made, and many factors can alter this process.
Age-related diseases, such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, cause a
higher-than-normal loss of cells in the brain, which can lead to loss of
function. Previous studies have suggested that calorie
restriction can boost life span and mental capacity. That prompted researchers
to look at whether cutting calories might also play a role in protecting aging
brain cells. They compared levels of proteins indicating brain cell death in two
groups of rats. One group was given unrestricted access to food and water
throughout their lives. The other was given 40% fewer calories (but still
adequate nourishment) than the unrestricted group. They found
that the levels of these proteins increased with normal aging in the rats fed
unrestricted diets. The rats given a restricted diet did not have an increase in
the levels of these proteins. Another protein thought to protect
from cell death dropped by 60% in the well-fed rats, but it actually increased
over time in the calorie-restricted rats. Finally, DNA
fragmentation, a third indicator of cell death, more than doubled in the
unrestricted rats with age, but this increase was 36% less in the
calorie-restricted rats. Although the results are promising,
researchers say more study is needed to completely understand the processes that
lead to cell death and the role nutrition plays in that process.
Meanwhile, they say, their study provides yet another reason to watch what
you eat. "We’re not going to do it right away to improve our memories; we’re
going to do it probably in general for the first reasons, which would be to
prevent cardiovascular disease and cancer," says Christian Leeuwenburgh at the
University of Florida. What kind of benefits has been or will be brought to us as a result of the researches