Aging can be accompanied by many symptoms, including mitochondrial dysfunction, changes in gene activity, genomic instability, telomere depletion, impaired protein synthesis, impaired nutrient absorption, cellular aging, stem cell depletion, and altered cell-cell interactions. As a result of these processes, the work of organs gradually deteriorates, and the risk of disease and death increases.
In animals and humans, aging is accompanied by chronic inflammation. Inflammation is a significant risk factor for obesity, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, Alzheimer’s disease and cancer. All these diseases are associated with aging. In addition, chronic inflammation increases susceptibility to infections and also reduces the effectiveness of vaccinations.
Calorie Restriction – A Pill For Old Age
Calorie restriction without malnutrition can increase life expectancy and improve health. Calorie restriction helps reduce body fat, attenuate hormonal changes, repair damage, and enhance tissue repair. Long-term calorie restriction also reduces chronic inflammation. A study in rats showed that calorie restriction in old age reduced levels of immune system markers of aging.
However, long-term fasting has side effects. Among them are change in appearance, increased sensitivity to cold, decreased muscle strength, menstrual irregularities, infertility, loss of libido, osteoporosis, slow wound healing, food obsession, irritability and depression.
Therefore, safer alternatives to long-term fasting are:
- short-term calorie restriction;
- intermittent fasting;
- diets that mimic fasting.
However, German scientists have found that the benefits of calorie restriction are lost in old age. The study was carried out on aged mice. One group was fed ad libitum while the other was given calorie restriction. Then the diet was changed to the opposite. Switching from a diet to a more abundant diet dramatically increased mortality, while switching from an abundant diet to a diet caused only a slight increase in survival. Scientists explained this effect by the presence of food memory in animals, which prevents the body from rebuilding metabolism.
Calorie restriction slows down the aging of body tissues. The effect is different for different fabrics.
Scientists at the Leibniz Institute for Aging – Fritz Lipmann Institute have found that long-term and short-term calorie restriction in old age reduces chronic inflammation but affects different body tissues differently. However, aging-associated genome damage is not affected by calorie restriction.
Scientists have studied how calorie restriction affects the blood, brain, heart, kidneys, liver, lungs, muscles and skin during aging. Aging altered the activity of genes in all tissues except those of the heart. Calorie restriction slowed down the aging of most tissues and had the most substantial effect on the liver, blood, and kidneys. Otherwise, the diet did not affect the heart.
Short-term calorie restriction slowed blood aging the most.
Long-term calorie restriction most effectively slowed liver aging.
Calorie Restriction Reduces Systemic Inflammation. Skin and Muscle Response to Diet Differs from Other Tissues
Inflammation can be caused by a bacterial or viral stimulus and damage to the mitochondria. Aging causes dysbiosis of the gut microbiome and impairs gut barrier function, increasing blood levels of bacterial endotoxins, molecules released when the bacterial cell breaks down. The immune system responds to the bacterial stimulus by causing systemic inflammation.
In addition, aging increases the activation of innate immune system receptors that detect bacteria, viruses, and damaged mitochondria. It also leads to an increased inflammatory response.
Calorie restriction improves gut microbiome balance and increases gut barrier function. In addition, calorie restriction suppresses the expression and activity of innate immune system receptors and reduces systemic inflammation.
Long-term and short-term calorie restriction suppresses the inflammatory response in all tissues except skin and muscle.
The skin behaves in a completely different way: during aging, the level of skin inflammation decreases, but with calorie restriction, inflammation increases.
Long-term calorie restriction reduces aging-induced inflammation in the muscles. However, short-term calorie restriction increases the inflammatory response.
Calorie Restriction Lowers Interferon-Gamma Levels
Interferon-gamma (IFN type II) is a pro-inflammatory signaling protein that stimulates immune cells to defend against viruses. However, during aging, the production of interferon-gamma increases, stimulating inflammation. Long-term and short-term calorie restrictions reduce interferon-gamma levels in all tissues except the skin.
In contrast, levels of interferon-alpha and beta (IFN type I) are negligible at any age. Calorie restriction does not affect IFN-alpha and IFN-beta levels.
Conclusions
Aging changes the activity of genes in various body tissues and increases inflammation. Calorie restriction prevents the changes in many genes associated with aging.
Calorie restriction reduces the hyperactivation of the immune system with aging. Long-term calorie restriction significantly reduces inflammation in white adipose tissue, liver, and kidneys. Short-term calorie restriction is more effective at lowering aging-related activation of inflammatory pathways in the blood.
Calorie restriction improves stem cell function, which speeds up tissue repair. In addition, the diet reduces metabolic and oxidative stress and DNA damage, increases autophagy, improves gut microbiome balance, and improves gut barrier function.
Lifetime calorie restriction slows down aging and increases life expectancy. However, calorie restriction only in old age does not significantly affect.
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