CALORIC-RESTRICTION MIMETIC would, if successful, enable humans to derive many of the health and life-extending benefits seen in animals on restricted diets--without requiring people to go hungry.
Image: STUART BRADFORD
As researchers on aging noted in a position statement this past May, no treatment on the market today has been proved to slow human aging--the buildup of molecular and cellular damage that increases vulnerability to infirmity as we grow older. But one intervention, consumption of a low-calorie yet nutritionally balanced diet, works incredibly well in a broad range of animals, increasing longevity and prolonging good health. Those findings suggest that caloric restriction could delay aging in humans, too.
Unfortunately, for maximum benefit, people would probably have to reduce their caloric intake by roughly 30 percent, equivalent to dropping from 2,500 calories a day to 1,750. Few mortals could stick to that harsh a regimen, especially for years on end. But what if someone could create a pill that mimicked the physiological effects of eating less without actually forcing people to go hungry? Could such a caloric-restriction mimetic, as we call it, enable people to stay healthy longer, postponing age-related disorders (such as diabetes, atherosclerosis, heart disease and cancer) until very late in life?
This article was originally published with the title The Serious Search for an Anti-Aging Pill.
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3 Comments
Add CommentNo doubt that much longer life spans are in store for us. Propbably some kind of effective immortality also, eventually. But, who will be able to afford it? How will we decide who benefits from it? The Market? So, will only the very rich be able to pay for it, or will it come in the form of a cheap pill? Probably there will be various methods at different price levels and differing multipliers to the maximum life span. I think that there could be a danger that only the rich will be able to afford the longest lifespans and they would grow even more powerful without death to stop them. It will be interesting to see how it all unfolds. I'd like to live longer myself! Maybe our kids will or their kids. Good luck to the researchers out there! It's an exciting prospect! Hurry up I'm getting older here!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI just don't get the argument that few mortals can adhere to a 1,750 calories per day. If you eat nutrient-rich low calorie foods like vegetables, legumes, and fruits, curb your intake of fat (especially bad fats) and eat lean, healthy proteins, you are looking at a substantial reduction in the 2,500 calories per day, down to about 1,800. What is hard for "mortals" to do is to turn away from commercial and processed foods, and significantly change their eating habits. Anyone can thrive on a 1,800 calories a day diet... you don't have to go that far back in time to see that.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisCurbing the intake of carbs seems more important to me than that of fats. Look at all the so-called 'lower fat' or 'fat-free' foods sold today and yet obesity gets worse. We should be concentrating, as I said, more on carbs that fats.
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