TIME magazine published “Eat Less, Live Longer?” on February 11, tracking a study on the effects of caloric reduction led by BIG Awardee Luigi Fontana, MD, PhD. Early research on organisms ranging from yeast to monkeys showed that a 25-30% decrease in calories could increase lifespan by 50% and prevent diseases. When there is less food, the body reassigns energy from other functions towards survival. Dr. Fontana’s two-year study at Tufts University, the Comprehensive Assessment of Long-Term Effects of Reducing Intake of Energy (CALERIE), tracks the health of volunteers who reduce their caloric intake by 25% each day. Researchers are also interested in studying the effect of the diet on the age-regulating protein IGF-1. Such a reduction would bode well for slowing the human aging process, and promisingly, previous animal studies all showed a decrease in IGF-1 levels. Dr. Fontana is a research associate professor of Medicine at the Washington University School of Medicine and received a 2009 Glenn/AFAR Breakthroughs in Gerontology (BIG) Award.
