Which is Best Path to Fountain of Youth Diet or
Exercise? Diet Wins Again in Latest Study
There are links on this page to many such studies
over the last few years
By Tucker Sutherland, editor & publisher,
SeniorJournal.com
July
3, 2008 - The question of which keeps you younger diet or exercise
has been probed again in new research with older people and the winner,
once again, is dieting. Over the last few years SeniorJournal.com has
published a number of reports on studies testing which of the two is
best to slow the signs of aging and extend life. There are links to many
of these reports on this page that leave a reader with the impression
that diet is best but combined with exercise it is even better. The
study released today, however, focuses on older people and moves the
research from animals to humans.
Calorie restriction has long been shown to slow the
aging process in rats and mice. While 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
(T3), which then slows metabolism and tissue aging, according to the
report by Saint Louis University researchers..
Their new study in the June 2008 issue of
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.
Over recent years, there has been a huge amount of
debate about whether calorie restriction slows the aging process in
humans, said Edward Weiss, Ph.D., associate professor of nutrition and
dietetics at Saint Louis Universitys Doisy College of Health Sciences
and lead author of the study.
Our research provides evidence that calorie
restriction does work in humans like it has been shown to work in
animals. The next step is to determine if this in fact slows age-related
tissue deterioration. The only way to be certain, though, is to do a
long-term study.
In the current study, Weiss wanted to know if
calorie reduction would lower T3 levels in humans. To determine if the
lowered levels of T3 were a result of calorie restriction and not
decreases in fat mass in general, Weiss also recruited volunteers to
lose weight through exercise.
See links to more
reports on diet versus exercise below this news story.
Study volunteers included sedentary, non-smoking,
50- to 60- year-old men and post-menopausal women with average or
slightly above average body man index values. They were in otherwise
good health and did not have cardiovascular disease, diabetes, lung
disease, uncontrolled hypertension and evidence of malignancy.
Volunteers were randomly assigned to one of three
groups a calorie-restriction group, an exercise group or a control
group and followed for one year. Volunteers in the calorie restriction
group lost weight by reducing their daily calorie intake by 300 to 500
calories per day. Volunteers in the exercise group maintained their
regular diet and exercised regularly.
Volunteers in both the calorie-restriction and
exercise groups experienced similar changes of body fat mass. However,
only volunteers in the calorie restriction group also experienced lower
levels of the thyroid hormone.
Although a long-term study is still needed to
determine if reducing T3 levels through calorie restriction does indeed
slow the aging process, Weiss says cutting back on calories is a good
idea.
There is plenty of evidence the calorie
restriction can reduce your risks for many common diseases including
cancer, diabetes and heart disease, Weiss said. And you may live to be
substantially older.
When cutting calories, Weiss warns that it is
imperative to maintain a healthy diet by eating nutrient-rich foods.
Cutting 300 to 500 calories per day is equivalent to skipping dessert or
substituting a turkey sandwich instead of a Big Mac and fries.
Anorexia nervosa is a condition that is associated
with calorie restriction that is far too severe and is accompanied by
inadequate intakes of many nutrients. Consequently, it results in
premature disease and even death, rather than improvements in health and
a slowing of aging.
Because it also slows metabolism, Weiss warns that
calorie-restricted weight loss could make people more prone to weight
gain over time. On the other hand, people who lose weight through
exercise are not as likely to gain weight back if they quit exercising.
The key to maintaining a healthy weight, Weiss says, is keeping a
consistent diet and exercising regularly.
Weiss, who also is an adjunct research assistant
professor at Washington University School of Medicine, conducted the
research in the laboratory of John O. Holloszy, M.D., professor of
medicine at Washington University. Dennis Villareal, Susan Racette,
Karen Steger-May, Bhartur Premachandra, Samuel Klein and Luigi Fontana
collaborated with Weiss on the study.
Long a leader in educating health professionals,
Saint Louis University offered its first degree in an allied health
profession in 1929. Today the Doisy College of Health Sciences offers
degrees in physical therapy and athletic training, clinical laboratory
science, nutrition and dietetics, health informatics and information
management, medical imaging and radiation therapeutics, occupational
science and occupational therapy, and physician assistant education. The
college's unique curriculum prepares students to work with health
professionals from all disciplines to ensure the best possible patient
care.
Links to Other Reports Testing the
Benefits of Diet versus Exercise
Death rates for 8 of the 10 leading causes of death
in U.S. all dropped significantly in 2006; Alzheimers passed diabetes
becoming the sixth leading cause of death
June 11, 2008 - Age-adjusted death rates in the
United States declined significantly between 2005 and 2006 and life
expectancy hit another record high 78.1 years, according to
preliminary death statistics released today by CDCs National Center for
Health Statistics.
Read
more...
Below are briefs, with links, to several of the
news reports published by SeniorJournal.com in recent years on the
ongoing debate about which is best for extending longevity - exercise or
diet.
These stories are in three different archives of
SeniorJournal.com. To go to the main section page with more stories on
any of the three, click the following link:
Diet and exercise prevent of age-related disease,
but reducing calories needed to slow aging
May 31, 2006 If you prefer dieting to exercise,
you may be in luck, assuming you, like most senior citizens, are seeking
ways to live longer. A new study found that only calorie restriction
not exercise increases the maximum lifespan up to 50 percent.
Read more...
Study shows it can
even reverse aging cell and organ damage
May 8, 2006 - A lifelong habit of trimming just a
few calories from the daily diet can do more than slim the waistline - a
new study shows it may help lessen the effects of aging. Scientists from
the University of Florida's Institute on Aging have found that eating a
little less food and exercising a little more over a lifespan can reduce
or even reverse aging-related cell and organ damage in rats.
Read more...
Many elderly people feel that it is too late for
them to improve their health, but that is simply not true.
Dec. 14, 2007 The author of a new study of
scientific data about senior citizens claims he has an important message
for the elderly: It's not too late to improve your health through diet
and exercise, even if you've had an unhealthy lifestyle in the past!
Read more...
Study important because it suggests that resveratrol
and caloric restriction may govern the same master genetic pathways
related to aging
June 4, 2008 Scientists have long maintained
senior citizens can extend their lives by strict adherence to a diet
that rigidly restricts calorie intake. Now, scientists may have
discovered how to accomplish this without starving yourself. It is a
choice most seniors will gladly choose over severe calorie restriction
drinking red wine. A new study says low doses of the resveratrol in red
wine may achieve the same longevity results as starvation dieting.
Read
more...
Report 10-fold life span extension in
simple organism bakers yeast
June 4, 2008 - Biologists have created bakers
yeast capable of living to 800 in yeast years without apparent side
effects and this may suggest strategies for helping humans live
healthier and longer. The basic but important discovery, achieved
through a combination of dietary and genetic changes, brings science
closer to controlling the survival and health of the unit of all living
systems: the cell.
Read
more...
Rats on restricted calorie diet had
significantly higher physical performance
Oct.
31, 2007 Although research has well established that a healthy diet is
very beneficial to longevity, scientist say in a new study they have
proven for the first time that severely restricting calories not only
leads to a longer life, it also maintains physical fitness into advanced
age.
Read
more...
Senior citizens increasingly turn to exercise,
healthy diet as keys to rejuvenation
January 16, 2007 Senior citizens are increasingly
turning to exercise and healthier diets in an attempt to regain the vim
and vigor of younger years. Many fail in this quest due to frustration,
which may be due to misconceptions and bad information that floats
around gyms, the Internet and even senior centers.
Read more...
Results are from research that is part of NIH-funded
longevity study
November 8, 2006 You are getting older. You see
many of your friends suffering with diabetes. You know it is one of the
leading causes of premature death. What is the best way to avoid it
exercise of diet?
Read more...
24 studies find effective weight-loss
needs
exercise and diet
By Taunya English, Science Writer, Health Behavior
News Service
October 27, 2006 - If youre overweight and hoping
to shed pounds, but still regularly indulging in french fries dont
count on exercise to salvage your weight-loss efforts.
Stress reduction and diet also cited as helping
memory
Dec. 12, 2005 - To truly slim
down, obese and overweight people need to watch what they eat and get
moving, according to a new analysis of weight-loss trials dating back to
1985.
Read more...
May 25, 2005 New research says late Boomers and
Senior Citizens those 55 to 75 - can sustain and maybe improve bone
mass with a moderate exercise program. The researchers say their results
debunk the myth that exercising to lose excess body fat, unlike
dieting alone, comes at a cost to bone health. Read more...
Keep up with the latest news for senior citizens, baby
boomers
July
3, 2008 - The question of which keeps you younger diet or exercise
has been probed again in new research with older people and the winner,
once again, is dieting. Over the last few years SeniorJournal.com has
published a number of reports on studies testing which of the two is
best to slow the signs of aging and extend life. There are links to many
of these reports on this page that leave a reader with the impression
that diet is best but combined with exercise it is even better. The
study released today, however, focuses on older people and moves the
research from animals to humans.