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Cutting calories may be way to live longer

ST. LOUIS, July 4 (UPI) -- Saint Louis University researchers suggest cutting back on calories could be a promising strategy to live longer.

Calorie restriction has long been shown to slow the aging process in rats and mice, but scientists do not know how calorie restriction affects the aging process in rodents. One popular hypothesis is that it slows aging by decreasing a thyroid hormone, triiodothyronine, which then slows metabolism and tissue aging.

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The study, published in Rejuvenation Research, found that calorie restriction -- cutting approximately 300 to 500 calories per day -- had a similar biological effect in humans and, therefore, may slow the aging process.

Study volunteers included sedentary, non-smoking, 50- to 60-year-old healthy men and post-menopausal women randomly assigned to one of three groups -- a calorie-restriction group, an exercise group or a control group -- and tracked for one year.

Volunteers in the calorie restriction group lost weight by reducing their daily calorie intake by 300 to 500 calories per day, while volunteers in the exercise group maintained their diet. Only volunteers in the calorie restriction group also experienced lower levels of the thyroid hormone.

A long-term study is still needed to determine if reducing triiodothyronine levels through calorie restriction does indeed slow the aging process, Weiss said.

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