The study, published in the journal, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2004, vol. 101, no. 17), investigated the effects of long-term calorie restriction (CR) on risk factors for obesity, high cholesterol and atherosclerosis (arterial plaque build-up that can lead to heart disease and stroke). Researchers at the Washington University School of Medicine in St Louis, Missouri, analyzed the data of 18 individuals participating in the Calorie Restriction with Optimal Nutrition Society (CRON) who had been on restricted food intake (approximately two-thirds calorie intake of an average diet), for 6 years, and 18 age-matched healthy subjects on typical American diets. Serum lipids and lipoproteins, fasting plasma glucose and insulin, blood pressure (BP), high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (CRP), platelet-derived growth factor AB (PDGF-AB), body mass index, percent body fat, and carotid artery intima-media thickness (IMT) were obtained from the participants.
The researchers found that Serum total cholesterol (Tchol), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, ratio of Tchol to high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), triglycerides, fasting glucose, fasting insulin, CRP, PDFG-AB, systolic and diastolic BP, body mass index, and percent body fat was significantly lower and high density lipoprotein ('good' cholesterol) levels were higher in the calorie restricted group, compared to the average diet group. Findings also revealed that carotid artery IMT was 40 percent less in the calorie restricted group, compared to the average diet group.
"Our data show that CR results in profound and sustained beneficial effects on the major atherosclerosis risk factors, serum Tchol, LDL-C, HDL-C, TG, and BP, that usually increase with advancing age," the study authors write. "They further show that CR provides a powerful protective effect against obesity and insulin resistance, and provide evidence for a decrease in inflammation, as reflected in extremely low CRP levels."
Posted by Kristopher Foster on February 17, 2006 01:01 AM
