Diet and Healthy Aging

A NEJM article points out that calorie restriction promotes longevity in many creatures, including dogs, monkeys, fish, mice, spiders, beetles, nematode worms, fruit flies, and yeast. Understanding the common mechanisms that seem to exist might lead to improved healthy aging for humans, and the evidence so far suggests that reduced caloric indicate is the key. For example, a 20-year study in monkeys showed that experimental animals receiving 30% less of the unrestricted diet of the controls were healthier as they aged (less diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular disease, and brain atrophy) and had fewer age-related deaths. This sounds good, but the probability that we would not be able to stick to such a restricted diet means we’re never likely to know if dietary restriction can extend healthy human life.

Twenty small hands raised in protest on Mass Turnpike billboard:

Proof in Gloucester, Massachusetts, that Christmas is coming....

Science and Evolution....

A Forbes article this year notes that only 40% of Americans believe in evolution. It’s quick to offer hope for improvement, however. Only 18% of Americans still believe the sun revolves around the earth, and a mere 500 years was all that was necessary to reach that figure.

Attention chocolate lovers: food for thought.

A recent study in the New England Journal of Medicine found a strong correlation between chocolate consumption per capita and the number of Nobel laureates in various countries.

Calories from sugar-sweetened drinks do matter.

Consumption of sugar-sweetened drinks is a big contributor to the obesity epidemic. Such beverages are the largest single calorie food source in the United States. Salty and fast foods are often consumed at the same time with these nutrient-poor drinks. In addition, these drinks are associated with chronic conditions like diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart disease. Schools are under fire for making them available, but the greatest consumption of these beverages occurs at home. Families should team up to reduce intake. If nothing else, replacement with sugar-free beverages should reduce fat accumulation, weight gain, and some chronic diseases.

Micronutrient supplementation: more is not better.

A recent editorial in the NEJM reminds of a truism that once an adequate concentration of a nutrient has been achieved, additional intake has no effect. So, unless one has a known deficiency of a nutrient, there is no good reason to take in more of it. When attracted by purported benefits of supplements, one should also beware of potential ill effects and unnecessary expense.