In a new study, researchers found that calorie restriction improves people’s metabolic response and immune response.
The improvement could help determine both how long a person lives and how many years of good health they enjoy.
As Eric Ravussin, Associate Executive Director for Clinical Science at Pennington Biomedical Research Center, says, calorie restriction rewires many of the metabolic and immune responses that boost lifespan and healthspan.
In the current study, the team examined the data gathered by Pennington Biomedical’s CALERIE 2 (Comprehensive Assessment of the Long-Term Effects of Reducing Intake of Energy), the longest-running calorie restriction trial in humans.
They found that people who cut their calorie intake by about 14% over two years generated more T cells, which play a key role in immune function and slow the aging process.
As people age, their thymuses shrink and produce fewer T cells. As a result, older people have a harder time fighting off infections and certain cancers.
Calorie restriction helps prevent the thymus from shrinking so the person generates more T cells.
In addition to improving immunity, an increase in T cells is linked to an improved ability to burn stores of fatty acids for energy.
It’s very important because if a person doesn’t burn this fuel, the fat may build up in organs such as the muscle and liver, leading to insulin resistance, obesity, type 2 diabetes and aging.
What’s more, the study could help develop a new treatment to reduce age-related inflammation and improve metabolic health.
Studies have shown that restricting calories by 40% in rodents extended their lives.
Calorie restriction also reduces the levels of gene encoding platelet activating factor acetyl hydrolase (PLA2G7). Reducing PLA2G7 produces health benefits that include lowering age-related inflammation and improving metabolic health.
If researchers can find a way to harness PLA2G7, they could create a treatment to extend a person’s healthspan, the time an individual experiences good health.
If you care about nutrition, please read studies about diet that may help reduce inflammation in COVID-19, and daily food directly linked to cancer risk.
For more information about health, please see recent studies about foods that could help improve your sleep, and results showing this common vitamin is very important for cancer prevention.
The study was conducted by O. Spadaro et al. and published in Science.
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