Study: Eating Less Slows Muscle Cell Damage
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LONDON — People who eat less are more efficient at converting food into energy, which may help them live longer, a new study shows.
Scientists at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge, La., studied 36 overweight people for six months. A third of them ate a diet meeting their energy needs. A second group had their calorie intake cut by 25%, and a third group consumed 12.5% fewer calories and exercised to increase their energy expenditure by the same percentage.
The researchers found that dieting with or without exercise promoted more efficient mitochondria, the cellular structures that convert food into energy. When those tiny power plants function better, they produce fewer free radicals, chemicals that can damage the body’s proteins and DNA. Such damage has been linked to aging.
“This study provides, to our knowledge, the first evidence that a 25% caloric deficit decreased 24-hour energy expenditure and improved mitochondrial function,” researchers led by Anthony Civitarese wrote in the study, published in the Public Library of Science’s online journal Medicine yesterday.
More studies are needed to determine whether the benefits seen after six months can be sustained over a longer period, the researchers said.
Previous research in rodents has shown that a calorie-restricted diet increases lifespan and delays the start of age-related illnesses such as cancer and heart disease.
