Eating too many calories can accelerate aging

( Natural News ) Everybody knows that you are what you eat, but an interesting new study has discovered that eating less overall can directly impact how long you live. In fact, scientists have discovered that reducing calorie consumption leads to an “almost linear increase in lifespan.” This doesn’t mean that we should all start starving ourselves in the belief that we will stay young forever, but it does mean that every calorie we consume needs to really count. The study was conducted by researchers from Brigham Young University and Colorado State University , and was published in the journal Molecular and Cellular Proteomics . Researchers examined the effect of ribosomes (the protein makers of the cell) on the aging process . “The ribosome is a very complex machine, sort of like your car, and it periodically needs maintenance to replace the parts that wear out the fastest,” Brigham Young biochemistry professor and senior author, John Price, explained. “When tires wear out, you don’t throw the whole car away and buy new ones. It’s cheaper to replace the tires.” When this ribosome “machine” has defects, the result is protein homeostasis, disease, and aging. When it is running optimally, however, the body is able to fight of disease, and lifespan is increased. To test the effect of calorie consumption on this process, two groups of mice were used, one of which had unlimited access to food, while the other was given all the daily required nutrients, but 35 percent fewer calories per day. The researchers then used stable-isotope feeding and protein mass spectrometry to measure the effects on the ribosomal RNA (rRNA) and ribosomal proteins (r-proteins) of the mice. They found that in the mice who consumed fewer calories, ribosome production slowed down, causing biochemical changes that literally slowed down […]

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