Calorie Restriction Mimetics in the Context of Cardiovascular Disease

The practice of calorie restriction produces a beneficial upregulation of cellular stress responses. In short-lived species such as mice this can produce a dramatic slowing of aging, improvement in health, and extension of life span. The same mechanisms produce similar short-term benefits to health, but not a significant lengthening of life, in species as long-lived a our own, however. Nonetheless, there is considerable interest in calorie restriction mimetics, compounds that can trigger at least some of the same regulatory mechanisms governing cellular stress responses, particularly the operation of autophagy. Recent years have seen a growing interest in understanding how dietary interventions shape and interact with the most common cardiovascular risk factors, including hypertension, obesity, metabolic syndrome, and diabetes mellitus type 2. Substantial cardiometabolic improvements have been reported with fasting interventions such as reduction in blood pressure, body weight and fat mass, lower blood glucose, and improvement in insulin sensitivity, both in experimental and clinical studies. Although caloric restriction consistently improves several aspects of health, its application has been hampered by poor compliance and adverse side effects on bone health and immune response, especially in the elderly. An interesting aspect that warrants further attention is the effect of caloric restriction mimetics or dietary interventions aimed at weight loss on the gu...
Source: Fight Aging! - Category: Research Authors: Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs