Eating Less May Slow Your Aging, Scientists Say

One of the authors of the new research argued that their findings essentially confirm that it might be possible to slow aging in humans.

A moderate decrease in calorie intake may actually slow the aging process, however slightly, claims a new study led by the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health’s Columbia Aging Center.

Daniel Belsky, associate professor of epidemiology at Columbia Mailman School and senior author of the research in question, has explained that, since calorie restriction can slow aging in creatures such as flies, worms and mice, he and his colleagues wanted to see if the same method could slow "biological aging" in humans as well.

During the course of their work, the researchers examined blood samples taken from participants of the CALERIE (Comprehensive Assessment of Long-Term Effects of Reducing Intake of Energy) trial that "randomized 220 healthy men and women at three sites in the US to a 25 percent calorie-restriction or normal diet for two years," according to a press release by Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health.

Having analyzed the methylation marks on DNA (which are known to change with age) extracted from those samples, the team found what they believe to be "evidence that calorie restriction slowed the pace of aging in humans," as study co-author and Columbia Aging Center research scientist Calen Ryan put it.

"Our findings are important because they provide evidence from a randomized trial that slowing human aging may be possible," Ryan remarked. "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."

He did note, however, that the calorie restriction method is "probably not for everyone."