How Much of the Benefit of a Healthier Diet is Due to Natural Calorie Restriction Mimetics?

How much of the benefit of a healthier diet arises from the effects of natural calorie restriction mimetic compounds? That question is an interesting one from a scientific perspective, but the answers are probably not all that valuable in a practical sense. We have a fairly good idea as to the size of the benefits to long-term health obtained via a better diet, and separately by eating less of that diet, the practice of calorie restriction while still obtaining sufficient micronutrients. Calorie restriction mimetic compounds trigger some of the same beneficial cellular stress response mechanisms as does a low calorie diet, though in lesser and more piecemeal ways. Knowing more about how and why a better diet is a better diet isn't the path to large improvements in human longevity, but it is a fascinating subject, nonetheless. In addition to genetic, environmental and lifestyle factors, nutrition plays a vital role in shaping health throughout human aging. Recently, health was defined as the sum of several hallmarks, including, the ability to react to environmental and cellular stress, integrity of barriers and maintenance of cellular and organismal homeostasis, of which many cross-talk with dietary factors. While a moderate consensus has been reached on what defines an unhealthy diet, the constitution of a healthy diet remains debated and subject to different beliefs. In principle, healthy diets should have positive effects on diverse health parameters, while not evo...
Source: Fight Aging! - Category: Research Authors: Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs