Longevity Linked to Eating Less

A low-calorie diet, even in people who are not obese, can lead to changes in metabolism and body chemistry that have been linked to better health and longer life, researchers are reporting.

The findings lend support to the theory that eating less, long known to prolong life in rats and mice, may do the same for people, by preventing heart disease, cancer, diabetes and other diseases, and by slowing aging.

There is a Calorie Restriction Society, with members all over the world, and its president, Brian Delaney, estimates that the people experimenting by themselves number in the thousands. But there is no proof that calorie restriction works in people, largely because it is difficult and expensive to study; it can also take decades to measure an effect on life span.

Calorie restriction leads to decreases in insulin levels and body temperature >