Most of us cringe when we hear the word “diet” because we associate it with pain and deprivation. And it’s no wonder…
When dieting we usually have to pass up entire categories of food. If you’re on the keto diet, there will be no dipping into the muffin tray at breakfast or grabbing pizza for dinner. And if you’re following the Mediterranean diet, you won’t be ordering a thick, juicy steak when you go out to eat.
Then there’s calorie restriction, one of the oldest forms of dieting and one that’s come under fire in recent years. Critics say it doesn’t work over the long term and can result in some people gaining more weight than when they started.
However, even its detractors say there’s no denying that restricting calories while following a healthy diet does help people lose weight. I can personally vouch for it, having lost 15 pounds through calorie restriction and maintained it for over a year.
And there are other benefits to reducing the number of calories you consume. It helps you burn energy more efficiently, balance your hormone output, promote a healthier gut microbiome and boost immune system health.
But best of all, cutting calories can also add years to your life and scientists are closer to understanding why…
Key reason calorie restriction equates to longer lifespan
Earlier studies in animals have shown that restricting calorie intake can lead to a longer lifespan by reducing the oxidative stress on your body.
Now, researchers at Yale University have found there may be another factor at play in humans.
In a recent study, they analyzed data from a clinical trial known as CALERIE. In this trial, some participants reduced their calorie intake by 14 percent for two years while others ate as usual.
Researchers then tracked the long-term health effects.
When looking at the CALERIE data, the Yale researchers sought to identify the molecules responsible for the positive effects of calorie reduction by examining genetic changes in participants’ fat tissue after one and two years.
What they found was those who consumed fewer calories had reduced amounts of “Secreted Protein Acidic and Rich in Cysteine,” or SPARC. This protein has been linked to obesity, diabetes and inflammation.
“Because inflammation plays such a big role in age-related decline, we wanted to better understand whether a pro-longevity intervention like calorie restriction works through SPARC in controlling inflammation and immune responses,” says study lead Vishwa Deep Dixit, a professor at Yale and director of the Yale Center for Research on Aging.
To dig deeper into SPARC’s contributions to inflammation, Dixit and his team studied what effects the protein had on mouse immune cells and mouse health…
- They discovered that SPARC triggered inflammation by switching immune cells called macrophages from an anti-inflammatory to a pro-inflammatory state.
- Conversely, lowering the SPARC production lowered inflammation, improved metabolism and extended their health span as they grew older.
Dixit says the findings could lead to preventions for age-related decline.
“We now have a better understanding of how SPARC affects inflammation and health span by acting on macrophages,” he adds. “And it may be a useful target for inducing the health benefits of calorie restriction without having to actually alter calorie intake.”
How to cut back those calories
It will be many years before the findings in the Yale study translate into anti-aging therapeutics. Until then, if you want to lower your SPARC — and with it the inflammation that’s been found to negatively affect health and longevity — you only need to cut back on your daily calorie consumption.
There are plenty of options…
You can manually track your calories, or do what I did and use an app. You just have to enter the foods you eat. And some diets like WW (formerly Weight Watchers) put a new spin on calorie restriction by assigning certain point values to foods and giving you a maximum amount of daily points total to follow.
But one of the most effective ways to cut calories is to follow an intermittent fasting plan which involves eating within a window of time each day. For instance, a 16-hour intermittent fasting plan would mean holding off on your morning meal until 11 a.m. and stopping all food intake at 7 p.m.
However, fasting can be difficult. Professor Valter Longo of the University of California, a longevity expert, has designed a diet that mimics fasting, and he says it’s the longevity diet most can follow and stick to.
His diet consists of limiting calories to 900 per day — but only three times a year for several days. As far as what to eat regularly, he says a mostly plant-based, low protein, Mediterranean-type diet is optimal for those looking to live longer and healthier.
He also emphasizes that if you eat the right foods, “Lots of legumes, whole grains, and vegetables; some fish; no red meat or processed meat and very low white meat; low sugar and refined grains; good levels of nuts and olive oil, and some dark chocolate”— you can eat more of them, not less.
Sources:
Calorie Reduction Lowers Protein Linked to the Aging Process — Yale School of Medicine
The matricellular protein SPARC induces inflammatory interferon-response in macrophages during aging — Immunity
WW Diet Review: Does It Work for Weight Loss? — Healthline
The Calorie Fallacy: Why Counting Calories Isn’t an Effective Weight-Loss Strategy — Time