Weight loss, aging, and immunity

07/11/2015 1:11AM

Thanks for sharing your notes and observances. Fascinating! I have a question about the studies of caloric restriction and longer/healthier lives in lab animals. The reports I saw compared animals that were raised one way (low calorie) or the other (unrestricted or just higher calorie). Have they noticed changes in length of life when animals were raised first one way and then changed to the other? I guess I want to know if it makes a real difference if you switch to eating less when you are already middle aged? Has a person already done irreparable damage?

MiceandMakeup

Cmaizy, the honest answer to that question is that it's complicated and we don't totally know yet. I do know that switching at ANY point is beneficial but it looks like you have to stick with it for 6 months or more. Guess the Transformer bet is ideal for that! Most of the research in mice and humans suggests that this is enough to help really push your body back toward a healthy profile in terms of cholesterol levels, immune system function, and a host of other measures, and those benefits will continue as long as the diet is maintained. Most of the research that I've seen doesn't extend how long an animal lives by any significant amount, but it does improve the amount of time the animal has good health. The earlier you start the better the results, but your body is surprisingly capable of reversing damage. Almost everything heals with time!

Cmaizy

Thank you for your reply and the information.