News - Monkey study: consuming less calories could extend the life of primates

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Planning on picking up fish and chips for your lunch? A US study on monkeys might convince you to opt for something healthier.

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Read more.

Have to admit, I've never seen a monkey my local chippy, although I have occasionally wondered about some of the staff.

So they're basically saying that if you watch what you eat, you're likely to be healthier? Sounds blindingly obvious to me; my diet's usually like a yo-yo, eat too much and end up paying for it - manage my intake and I feel better.

Any reason for the lack of links to the source material?

No it's beyond just watching what you eat, it's actually saying a restricted diet in terms of calories, ie get your nutrition but far less calories than is normal, seems to prolong life expectancy and various other things like certain parts of the brain's size. The non-restricted diet it's tested against is still healthy.

It's been shown in many other species as well, it's just that these are the closest things to humans that have been tested so far.

The reference is the latest issue of the journal Science ("Caloric Restriction Delays Disease Onset and Mortality in Rhesus Monkeys ", Ricki J. Colman, Rozalyn M. Anderson, Sterling C. Johnson, Erik K. Kastman, Kristopher J. Kosmatka, T. Mark Beasley, David B. Allison, Christina Cruzen, Heather A. Simmons, Joseph W. Kemnitz, and Richard Weindruch
Science 10 July 2009: 201-204. )

No, they aren't saying that if you eat too much and get fat it reduces your lifespan. What they're saying is that if you eat less you will lvie longer. Even if you burn off all teh calories, it still reduces your lifespan.

I read something like this before, apparently the less you eat, the less you respire and therefore your cells split less often, increasing the time before your telemeres run out at the end of your chromosomes, therefore making you live longer. However you must restrict how many calories you consume from a very young age, or you just starve.

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Originally Posted by haveron

I read something like this before, apparently the less you eat, the less you respire and therefore your cells split less often, increasing the time before your telemeres run out at the end of your chromosomes, therefore making you live longer. However you must restrict how many calories you consume from a very young age, or you just starve.

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I think you need to read your previous source again more carefully, especially the last bit :p

Yeah, but is it like an extended half-life? You spend your entire life hungry and grumpy. Sounds pretty crappy to me.