UNDER THE MICROSCOPE: DIET FOR LIFE

KEEP TRACK: Restricting calorie intake delayed the onset of age-associated diseases

Tuesday September 15,2009

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LEADING oncologist Dr JUSTIN STEBBING explains why a low-calorie diet could be the key to longer life.

We all know dieting and weight loss can be good for you, improving your body image and health. However, recent research suggests cutting calories could be a means of prolonging life.

For a long time it has been known that depriving earthworms of certain sugars makes them live considerably longer than those that are overfed.

Now research has shown that certain types of diet where calories are severely restricted, can delay aging and extend the lifespan of certain types of monkey.

While this was previously known to be the case in worms it’s the first time it has been shown in what are scientifically called higher animals.

Restricting calorie intake from birth delayed the onset of age-associated diseases such as diabetes, cancer and heart disease.

It also stopped brain shrinkage and loss of brain tissue, which is associated with such conditions as Alzheimer’s disease.

One of the key features of this type of calorie restriction is that it must not cause malnourishment.

It should not be attempted in humans because it needs to be started at birth and be overseen every step of the way.

These experiments help us understand the delicate interplay between diet and disease.

A large American study showed that women who were able to control their weight after the diagnosis of breast cancer had fewer recurrences of their tumour.

Surprisingly this effect was strongest in those women who had the less common major type of breast cancer – the type not involved with oestrogen.

This seems to mean major hormones are not involved in this process.

We are slowly understanding the molecules involved in all of these processes and establishing how they work means we can start to target them and focus on them in order to treat diseases.

Ultimately if we fully appreciate all the cellular machinery involved then we can focus on the genes or proteins that control those processes without in fact reducing calorie intake.

While this means theoretically we can search for the fountain of youth in a pill, the dream of eternal life is likely to be decades away.

Dr Justin Stebbing is a member of the Royal College of Physicians and a clinical senior lecturer at Imperial College London. To contact him, e-mail jstebbing@londononcology.com or justin.stebbing@imperial.nhs.uk

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