Scientists find secret of living six years longer – eat less

Published on Thursday 9 July 2009 20:29

EATING less may help people to live longer, a new study has found.

Scientists have shown for the first time that a nutritious but reduced calorie diet delays ageing in primates.

The 20-year study, carried out on rhesus monkeys, also found that calorie restriction helped prevent age-related disorders such as cancer, diabetes, heart disease and brain atrophy.

Similar findings have been seen before but the new results are the first to suggest that cutting calories by about 30 per cent can add years to the lives of primates, and therefore possibly humans.

Rhesus monkeys have an average lifespan of about 27 years in captivity. However, the oldest of those taking part in the study have survived to 29, a 7 per cent increase. The same effect in humans would mean around six years of extra life. Professor Richard Weindruch, from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the US, who led the research, said: "

We observed that caloric restriction reduced the risk of developing an age-related disease by a factor of three and increased survival."