Evidence for Calorie Restriction to be Less Beneficial in Flies than in Other Species

Calorie restriction, eating up to 40% fewer calories while maintaining optimal micronutrient intake, near universally improves health and extends life across species assessed to date. Flies are a noteworthy exception to the reliability of this effect; the evidence is decidedly mixed for intermittent fasting and calorie restriction to work in flies in the same way that it does in nematodes, mice, and other laboratory species. Where it does work, it might not be working for the same reasons as it does in other species. The results here are somewhat characteristic of examinations of dietary restriction in flies, finding another way in which their response differs from that of, say, mice. Dietary restriction (DR) extends health and life span across taxa, from baker's yeast to mice, with very few exceptions. The reduction in total calories - or restriction of macronutrients, such as protein - extends life span reliably. Although the precise universal mechanisms that connect DR to ageing remain elusive, translation of DR's health benefits to human medicine is deemed possible. The widespread assumption of DR's translational potential originates from the notion that DR's beneficial effects are facilitated by shared evolutionary conserved mechanisms, as beneficial effects of DR are observed across taxa. Experiments on our close evolutionary relatives, rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta), have demonstrated that DR could be translational. Still, the mechanisms by which these benefi...
Source: Fight Aging! - Category: Research Authors: Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs