The most recent analysis of data available from a large team of O’ahu men from the Japanese ancestry has offered a dependable indication that a restraint-calorie diet, that is around 1,700 and 2,000 calories per day, promotes long life, researchers claim. This conclusion has been reached by studying data obtained 36 years ago form 1,915 men, a selected group of people among a total of around 8,000 recruited for the Honolulu Heart Program research.
The men who were studied were non smokers and did not suffer from any other diseases, Doctor Bradley Willcox from the Pacific Health Research Institute said. Doctor Willcox was responsible to head a research team that was studying longevity data. In spite of the fact that a number of men might have somewhat altered their diet over time, the researchers believed that the impact that the reduced calories has was sufficiently pronounced to be taken as a factor in longevity, explained Willcox.
Willcox stated that there exist several people whose eating habits change over the years. The fact almost 40 years later one can witness a difference, although the weakness of the measurement tool implies that this must be a quite powerful effect.
Furthermore, Willcox wrote an article that was based on the research that he conducted. The tile was as follows: “How Much Should We Eat? The Association Between Energy Intake and Mortality in a 36-Year Follow-Up Study of Japanese American Men.”
There are still 779 men living today out of the 1,915 who were involved in the study. They are aged between 85 to 105 years old. The study discovered that the probability of mortality was lesser in those who consumed fewer calories. This observation became more pronounced when 1,900 calories were consumed per day, and Willcox declared that an average American man calorie intake was around 2,500 on a daily basis. He also added that people who consume Japanese diets tend to live a longer life too.
He explained that the O’ahu study group which originally formed part of a collaborative research project that also involved ethnic Japanese men that lived in Japan and San Francisco, was recruited based on their military draft records. The fact that the draft records was so large and the men, who were recruited from the year 1965 to 1968, had already turned in their middle age, created a study group whose life spans could be studied rather quickly, Willcox said.
Willcox, who is a geriatrician as well as an assistant professor of the University of Hawai explained the usually, large groups that need to be studied over a long period of time are recruited much younger. This research confirms what theories first proposed in 1935 through the initial animal studies that showed a correlation between a reduction in calories and longevity, Willcox said. The initial work comprised of studying rats.
According Wellcox, the effect is completely rational when considering the fact that by living on lesser calories the body becomes more efficient in food processing and therefore resulting in the creation if lesser “free radicals”. Free radicals are atoms or group of atoms that are highly reactive. They can cause damage when they react with significant cellular components like the DNA, or the cell membrane. Due to this reaction the cells may function poorly or even die.
As a result, we accrue this wear and tear. Similarly to a car which has got a warranty period, every human body has got a warranty period too. Willcox declared that the link between diet and lifespan consists of the big unanswered questions in studies dealing with aging and biogerontology. He claims that such studies have never been conducted before and the fact that it supports evidences obtained during studies that involved animals is crucial.
Source: The Honolulu
Wed, May 19, 2010
Gerontology, Health And Aging, Lifestyle, Longevity