HOW CAN CALORIE RESTRICTION DELAYS AGEING ?
Let's talk about the secret of anti-ageing in the form of calorie restriction with its other benefits.
ANTI AGEING
Here’s everything you need to know.
First of all, what is aging ?
Well, It is something easy to recognize but difficult to define. Aging is a progressive process associated with structural and functional decline, impaired maintenance and repair system with increased susceptibility to diseases.
CONTENTS
A. BEST INTERVENTION TO DELAY AGING-CALORIE RESTRICTION
1.WHAT IS CALORIE RESTRICTION ?
2.WHAT ARE DIFFERENT FORMS OF CALORIE RESTRICTION ?
3. How Does Calorie Restriction or Fasting Work?
B. IS IT POSSIBLE TO DO CALORIE RESTRICTION AND AVOID MALNUTRITION TOO ?
C. WHAT ARE OTHER INTERVENTION TO DELAY AGEING ?
D. Should You Try Calorie Restriction or a Fasting Diet?
A. BEST INTERVENTION TO DELAY AGING-CALORIE RESTRICTION ?
How does calorie restriction increases lifespan of an individual ?
Here is the answer.
CALORIE RESTRICTION is the most important and robust intervention known till date. It is defined as reduction in total caloric intake usually of about 30% and without malnutrition. It reduces the release of growth factors such as growth hormone, Insulin, Insulin like growth factor 1 or IGF-1. These factors are activated by nutrients which in turn enhances aging.
It not only increases the lifespan but also reduces the risk for diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disorder and many other age related disorders.
1. WHAT IS CALORIE RESTRICTION ?
Calorie restriction means reducing the average daily caloric intake below what is typical or habitual, without malnutrition or deprivation of essential nutrients. In a fasting diet, a person does not eat at all or severely limits the intake during certain times of the day, week, or month. A practical effect of a fasting diet may be fewer calories because there is less time for regular eating.
These eating patterns are being studied as possible ways to maintain good health and live longer. They are not temporary weight-loss plans. Interest in their potential health and aging benefits stems from decades of research with a variety of animals, including worms, crabs, snails, fruit flies, and rodents. In many experiments, calorie-restricted feeding delayed the onset of age-related disorders and, in some studies, extended lifespan.
Given these results in animals, researchers are studying if and how calorie restriction or a fasting diet affects health and lifespan in people. Many studies have shown that obese and overweight people who lose weight by dieting can improve their health. But scientists still have much to learn about how calorie restriction and fasting affect people who are not overweight, including older adults. They also don't know whether these eating patterns are safe or even doable in the long run. In short, there's not enough evidence to recommend any such eating regimen to the public.
2. What Are the Different Forms of Calorie Restriction and Fasting?
Calorie restriction is a consistent pattern of reducing the average daily caloric intake while fasting regimens primarily focus on the frequency of eating. The fasting diet may or may not involve a restriction in the intake of calories during non-fasting times.
There are a variety of fasting diets, sometimes called "intermittent fasting." You may have read about:
A. Time-restricted feeding—Meals are consumed within a limited number of hours (such as 6-8 hours) each day, with nothing consumed during the other hours.
B. Alternate-day fasting—Eating is unrestricted every other day, and no or minimal calories can be consumed on the days in between.
C. 5:2 eating pattern—Eating is unrestricted for 5 straight days each week, followed by 2 days of restricted caloric intake.
D. Periodic fasting—Caloric intake is restricted for multiple consecutive days, such as 5 days in a row once a month, and unrestricted on all other days.
3. How Does Calorie Restriction or Fasting Work?
After decades of research, scientists still don't know why calorie restriction extends lifespan and delays age-related diseases in laboratory animals. Do these results come from consuming fewer calories or eating within a certain timeframe? Are the results affected by the diet's mix of nutrients?
Several studies have focused on what occurs inside the body when caloric intake is restricted. In laboratory animals, calorie restriction affects many processes that have been proposed to regulate the rate of aging. These include inflammation, sugar metabolism, maintenance of protein structures, the capacity to provide energy for cellular processes, and modifications to DNA. Another process that is affected by calorie restriction is oxidative stress, which is the production of toxic byproducts of oxygen metabolism that can damage cells and tissues.
Several of these processes were similarly affected by calorie restriction in the human CALERIE trial. However, we do not yet know which factors are responsible for calorie restriction's effects on aging or whether other factors contribute.
Research supported by NIA has also focused on the effects of intermittent fasting. During fasting, the body uses up glucose and glycogen, then turns to energy reserves stored in fat. This stored energy is released in the form of chemicals called ketones. These chemicals help cells—especially brain cells—keep working at full capacity. Some researchers think that because ketones are a more efficient energy source than glucose, they may protect against an aging-related decline in the central nervous system that might cause dementia and other disorders.
Ketones also may inhibit the development of cancer because malignant cells cannot effectively obtain energy from ketones. In addition, studies show that ketones may help protect against inflammatory diseases such as arthritis. Ketones also reduce the level of insulin in the blood, which could protect against type 2 diabetes.
But too many ketones in the blood can have harmful health effects. This is one of the reasons researchers want to understand more about how calorie restriction diets work before recommending them.
B. IS IT POSSIBLE TO DO CALORIE RESTRICTION AND AVOID MALNUTRITION TOO ?
This is a very common question that comes to ur mind while having a fast .This is not only arduous but extremely difficult too because it has substantial side effects for example prolonged decrease in calorie intake may decrease fertility, libido, impair wound healing, reduce the ability to combat infections and many more.
To address the above problem there’s one way by which CALORIE RESTRICTION can be useful in socially and medically feasible way and It includes:
1.PERIODIC FASTING such as alternate day fasting,
2. INTERMITTENT FASTING-of 16 hours a day
3.48 hour fasting once or twice a month,
ABOVE options are more viable. Many religions implement periodic fasting rituals. This strategy may even be effective despite extreme overeating during non fasting periods.
C. WHAT ARE OTHER INTERVENTION TO DELAY AGEING ?
There are other interventions too like pharmacological interventions, physical activity and exercise. Nowadays , many drugs are being developed that replicate the beneficial effects of CALORIE RESTRICTION without the need for reduction in food intake.
Exercise and physical activity protects against aging disorders such as Cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, hypertension etc. This is the only treatment that can protect and even reverse the age related muscle wasting. Even 30 min walk per day has significant effect.
