Cell: Scientists showed 80 years ago that rats given less to eat live longer
and healthier lives. Since then, dietary restriction experiments have
shown similar benefits in flies, fish, worms, chickens, dogs, monkeys,
and other animals. It's time to start seriously pursuing this research
in humans, say longevity researchers Luigi Fontana of Washington
University in St. Louis and Linda Partridge of the Max Planck Institute
for Biology of Ageing. "Dietary interventions that avoid
unrealistic levels of self-deprivation and pharmacological interventions
that recapture beneficial effects of [dietary restriction] are
important goals to improve human health during aging," they write in
their Review of the field. From their analysis, they conclude that more
work is needed to conduct human experiments, including the development
for biomarkers (e.g., protein levels in a blood test) that can identify
differences between an individual who is eating well versus someone who
is starving, as well as that can be used as metrics in clinical trials.
.jpg/120px-Lunch_(41415099).jpg)