Evaluating Continuous versus Intermittent Methionine Restriction in Mice

Researchers here show that intermittent methionine restriction (four days off, three days on, alternating) produces the same metabolic benefits as continuous methionine restriction, though to a lesser degree. Methionine sensing is one of the major mechanisms by which cells respond to low calorie intake, so it is possible to trigger this response without reduced calorie intake by reducing only levels of the essential amino acid methionine in the diet. To my eyes, the most interesting outcome here is that there is a large difference in metrics between the groups placed on a zero methionine diet for three days versus those placed on a low methionine diet for three days. From a practical point of view, the difficulty in practicing methionine restriction lies in organizing the diet, as near all staple foods contain a lot of methionine. Thus intermittent methionine restriction is going to be just as challenging as methionine restriction: it would require about the same amount of work to adopt this lifestyle choice either way. Further, any period of complete methionine restriction would require a manufactured diet. Those medical diet products exist, but are very expensive and/or not available to the public at large. A sustained state of methionine restriction (MR) dramatically extends the healthspan of several model organisms. For example, continuously methionine-restricted rodents have less age-related pathology and are up to 45% longer-lived than controls. Promisin...
Source: Fight Aging! - Category: Research Authors: Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs