Could cutting calories slow the pace of aging? Possibly, says new study

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A trial conducted by Columbia University’s Aging Center in New York City suggests that people who consume fewer calories may experience a slight slowdown in the aging process.

The study included 200 men and women between the ages of 21 and 50. 

All participants were within normal weight or were slightly overweight, as measured by their body mass index (BMI). 

Some participants cut their daily calorie intake by 25%. (For someone eating around 2,500 calories per day, that would mean cutting 625 calories.) A control group continued eating their regular diets. 

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After a two-year period, a follow-up test that examined DNA biomarkers in the blood found the calorie-cutters showed a 2-3% slowdown in their biological aging. 

In other tests, that has equated to a 10-15% increase in longevity — similar to the benefit seen in people who quit smoking, per a press release from Columbia.

A trial from Columbia University in New York suggests that people who consume fewer calories may experience a slight slowdown in the aging process. (iStock)

Prior studies of worms, flies and mice have also linked calorie restriction to greater longevity, senior author Daniel Belsky, PhD, a scientist with Columbia’s Butler Aging Center, noted in the press release.

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"Humans live a long time, so it isn’t practical to follow them until we see differences in aging-related disease or survival," Belsky said. 

It's not realistic for everyone to restrict calories, but the study findings are significant. 

"Instead, we rely on biomarkers developed to measure the pace and progress of biological aging over the duration of the study," he also said in the release.

This was the first-ever research to measure the impact of prolonged calorie restriction in healthy people without obesity. (iStock)

Funded by the U.S. National Institute on Aging, this was the first-ever research to measure the impact of prolonged calorie restriction in healthy people without obesity. 

The tests were conducted at three different clinical centers in the United States.

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Calen Ryan, PhD, a research scientist at Columbia’s Butler Aging Center who co-authored the study, acknowledged that while it’s not realistic for everyone to restrict calories, the study findings are significant. 

"[The findings] give us a sense of the kinds of effects we might look for in trials of interventions that could appeal to more people, like intermittent fasting or time-restricted eating." (iStock)

"They provide evidence from a randomized trial that slowing human aging may be possible," he said in the university’s press release. 

"They also give us a sense of the kinds of effects we might look for in trials of interventions that could appeal to more people, like intermittent fasting or time-restricted eating."

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The researchers plan to continue long-term follow-up tests to track the participants’ health and mortality.