Calorie Restriction Slows Aging of the Gut Microbiome in Mice

The gut microbiome is known to change in harmful ways with advancing age. In old people there are too many inflammatory microbes, versus too few microbes generating beneficial metabolites. Researchers here note that the practice of calorie restriction, well established to slow aging and extend life in numerous species, prevents much of this age-related shift in microbial populations in mice. Calorie restriction changes near every measure of metabolism and outcome of aging, which makes it challenging to determine which aspects of the response to calorie restriction are more or less important than one another. Determining the specific contribution of the gut microbiome to degenerative aging remains a work in progress. The first and the most studied manipulation shown to increase lifespan in mammals is caloric restriction (CR). Numerous laboratories have shown that reducing food consumption by 30% to 50% (without malnutrition) consistently increases both the mean and maximum lifespans of both laboratory rats and mice. The effect of CR on longevity is not limited to rodents as CR has been shown to increase the lifespan of a large number of diverse animal models ranging from invertebrates (yeast, C. elegans, and Drosophila) to dogs and non-human primates. Because the gastrointestinal (GI) system is the first organ/tissue that encounters the impact of reduced food consumption, there have been several studies on the effect of CR on the GI-system. With the advent of m...
Source: Fight Aging! - Category: Research Authors: Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs