calorie restriction Archives - Amazing Health Advances

Want to Live Longer? Here Is How Caloric Restriction Can Help You Achieve a Long, Healthy Life

AHA Publisher — Tue, 24 Aug 2021 07:22:42 +0000

Stephanie Woods via NaturalHealth365 – Calorie restriction for weight loss is nothing new. Experts and healthcare professionals have been recommending it for decades to help those who want to drop a few pounds. In fact, several studies have recently found that restricting calories can also improve your health and even prolong your life. What’s So Wrong With the American Diet? The American diet is inundated with processed foods that are barely recognizable as food, loaded with glyphosate, sodium, sugar, and chock full of preservatives. Combine this with the extreme excess that is not just accepted but promoted and encouraged in modern society. It’s easy to see why type 2 diabetes, cancer, obesity, and neurodegenerative disorders are so prevalent and rapidly growing each year. This unhealthy diet is responsible for chronic health conditions and the breakdown of the body. Organs are impacted, so they don’t function as they should, which causes fatty liver, disorders of the gallbladder, and blockages in arteries leading to the heart. The digestive system begins to malfunction with conditions like acid reflux and IBS. Even the chemical makeup is altered, which leads to anxiety and depression. What Is a Healthy Caloric Restriction? Caloric restriction is simply a different way of looking at eating. While most people think it is just limiting the calories they eat each day, it is actually a little more than that. There is a two-prong approach to caloric restriction: Limiting or restricting how many calories you consume each day Get enough nutrients to avoid malnutrition This means making every bite count and taking a good multivitamin every day, as well as staying well-hydrated. So How Does Restricting Calories Extend Life? Certain cellular changes occur within the body when a person follows a caloric restriction diet. Scientists have identified five benefits: Increase sirtuin function – These proteins regulate cellular health. They also help protect cellular components when the body is under stress. Increase AMPK activity – This enzyme helps to regulate metabolism, which helps with weight loss and all over bodily function. Reduce mTOR activity – This protein is linked to chronic disease and aging, so reducing its activity can help stave off many harmful conditions. Block cellular senescence – It helps prevent cells from aging, which prevents older cells from no longer functioning as they should. Encourage autophagy – This means to compel cells to remove damaged, older components inside and replace them with healthy, new ones. Each of these actions helps protect the body against the effects of aging, accelerated aging, and chronic disease. Here Is How to Follow a Caloric Restriction Plan A calorie restriction diet is not easy for most people, and it can be unpleasant. The good news is, as your body adjusts to the new way of eating – and receives more nutrients – your hunger will actually subside and return to normal. In addition, your ghrelin and leptin levels will stabilize, giving you a better handle on your hunger and returning it to a healthier cycle. These tips will help you succeed at following a caloric restriction plan: Talk to your doctor. An integrative physician – with nutrition experience – can help you determine how many calories you should consume and how you should balance carbohydrates, fiber, fat, and protein. Keep a food diary. There are many great apps you can use, such as MyFitnessPal, which calculates your calories, fat, carbs, protein, and other nutrients and helps you with important information about the food you eat. It can also be used on your computer as well as the app. Stay hydrated. Even low-level dehydration can cause you to feel run down and sick. It can also impair how your body functions, particularly when processing the foods you eat. Stick to whole foods. Avoid processed foods and stick to whole, natural foods like organic fruits and vegetables, 100% grass-fed beef and wild-caught fish. And, don’t forget the nutritional value of organic sprouts, nuts, seeds, herbs and spices. Consume only high quality, nutritional supplements. For many people, correcting nutritional deficiencies can make a world of a difference, especially as it relates to vitamins B, C and D. Plus, let’s not forget the importance of getting enough zinc, selenium and magnesium. Eat enough fiber. Fiber is important for keeping your heart and body healthy. It also keeps you from getting constipated. Just remember, you’ll need both soluble and insoluble fiber. Sleep well. Your health is greatly affected by your sleep habits. Most people would feel better by getting 6 – 8 hours of quality sleep – every night – for optimal body and brain performance. Make sure your bedroom is dark; avoid using electronic devices about 1-2 hours before bedtime and, if needed, do some kind of activity to help you to “wind down” like, a warm bath or deep breathing exercises. What’s the bottom line? A caloric restrictive diet can help you prevent or reverse chronic health conditions, help you lose weight, reduce the signs of aging, and help you feel better. It is well worth the effort, and you are going to love the benefits. Sources for this article include: LifeExtension.com NIH.gov NIH.gov MyFitnessPal.com To read the original article click here.

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UOC Researchers to Study the Effects of Intermittent Fasting on Aging in Postmenopausal Women

AHA Publisher — Mon, 04 Jan 2021 08:00:14 +0000

Open University of Catalonia (UOC) via News-Medical Net – Although many treatments are offered for slowing down the impact of aging on health and physical appearance, there are no serious studies that prove their effectiveness on the biological effects of aging. According to research, calorie restriction increases life expectancy and improves health in an extensive range of animals, including mammals. Two researchers from the UOC Faculty of Health Sciences’ FoodLab, Salvador Macip and Marta Massip, will study the impact of intermittent fasting in women who have completed menopause. The goals pursued by this study – funded by the Ministry of Science and Innovation – are, on one hand, to validate aging markers in a context of calorie restriction and, on the other hand, determine whether intermittent fasting leads to changes in organ aging in menopausal women, that is, women whose ovaries have ceased all activity. Menopause is associated with a series of changes in women’s bodies that affect their quality of life, for example, a significant increase in the incidence of metabolic syndrome, which in turn increases their cardiovascular risk, and acceleration of aging-related processes. The Importance of Defining Aging Markers The markers that will be used in the study have been validated previously in laboratory mice at University of Leicester (United Kingdom), where Salvador Macip works as professor and researcher. These markers, which can be identified in a simple blood test, can be used to detect the accumulation of old cells in different organs and differentiate between old and young tissues. Without suitable markers that measure cell aging in humans, it is impossible to know whether an anti-aging strategy actually works. We have discovered a series of new markers that we believe closely mirror the biological aging of tissues in animals. Now we want to see if they also work in humans and use them to measure the effects of dietary changes on aging that have already been seen to have a positive effect in mammals.” Salvador Macip, Researcher, UOC Faculty of Health Sciences’ FoodLab With the title Effects of intermittent fasting on organ aging in postmenopausal women, the study will be carried out between 2021 and 2023, with the participation of a hundred or so women recruited with the cooperation of Dr Guillem Cuatrecasas Cambra, head of the Endocrinology and Nutrition Department at the Clínica Sagrada Familia and the CPEN center. Fasting, a Cell Cleansing Mechanism During the first phase, the participants’ degree of organ aging will be analyzed by means of markers that are visible in blood samples. For the clinical study, the patients will be divided into two groups, the control group and the test group, which will be the group that fasts. All patients will follow a balanced diet with a normal amount of calories but low in carbohydrates for one year. In addition, the test group will fast for 16 hours consecutively two days a week (for example, they will have supper early and will not eat again until lunch next day). During the fasting period, they will not be able to eat but they will be allowed to drink water, coffee or tea. Blood samples will be taken from the patients before starting the study, six months after starting and after one year, at the end of the study. Apart from the markers that can be observed in the blood test, other parameters will also be analyzed, such as general health markers and symptoms associated with frailty. As Marta Massip explained, “With fasting, what we are doing is activating hormone regulating mechanisms and autophagia, which is a cell “cleansing” mechanism that eliminates the waste products involved in premature aging or even in certain diseases. So that the participants can become accustomed to the dietary intervention, the study will begin with a training and adaptation period during which the fasting will be integrated as naturally as possible in their daily lives. If the researchers’ hypothesis is correct, intermittent fasting may lead to improvements in tissue aging and become established as a relatively simple intervention for improving women’s quality of life during the postmenopausal period. And not just that. According to Salvador Macip, “Although men’s and women’s metabolism is very different, the biological mechanisms underlying the aging process are the same. We believe that the findings obtained in this study could be adapted perfectly well to men too”. La Marató Is Funding a Project on Metabolism and Aging The researcher and scientific commentator Salvador Macip will also co-lead a project funded by La Marató de TV3 which also studies the connections between metabolism and aging. This research project will be undertaken jointly with Dr Felizia Hanzu’s team at the Hospital Clínic de Barcelona on Cushing’s Disease, a hormone disorder for which there is currently no treatment and which causes symptoms and tissue changes that are very similar to those of aging. The project will study whether “cleansing” aging cells from the patients’ tissues can improve their quality of life and life expectancy. Macip and the team at the Hospital Clínic will use the same aging markers as the research project funded by the Ministry. To read the original article click here.

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