Eating until 60% full at each meal can add 20 years to your life
A new study presented at the 2012 Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition in London, UK, claims that eating less can help extend lifespan. Consuming 40% less food (eating until 60% full) can extend life by 20 years.
The new research was conducted by researchers from the Institute of Healthy Aging at University College London. The study aims to develop a new therapy that can combat "aging" diseases. Researchers investigated how genetic and lifestyle factors can counteract the negative effects of aging, thereby increasing life expectancy by several years or even decades. This would also allow for better management of age-related diseases such as cardiovascular disease, cancer, and neurodegenerative diseases.
One of the investigations in the new study was to understand the specific mechanism behind the phenomenon of "increasing the lifespan of experimental mice by 30% through simple food reduction." Dr. Pippal, head of the new research, stated that reducing the food of experimental mice by 40% would extend their lifespan by 20% to 30%. If humans could also "eat 40% less food," they might potentially add 20 years to their lives.
Scientists have also conducted similar studies on fruit flies. Fruit flies share 60% of their genes with humans and age in a very similar way. Scientists have already been able to extend the healthy lifespan of fruit flies and mice through drug treatments and dietary adjustments. It is believed that the same mechanisms could also help humans live longer.
Dr. Pippal stated that if aging genes can be discovered, then scientists can delay the aging process. This confirms one of the goals that scientists have been striving to achieve. Dr. Pippal's research team has already completed experiments extending the lifespan of organisms by altering a single gene. Researchers used gene technology to mitigate the effects of gene mutations and reduce the risk of Alzheimer's disease.
However, Dr. Pippal pointed out that since research on extending lifespan has only been around for about 10 years, the relevant research is largely still in the "theoretical stage."