BioQuakes

AP Biology class blog for discussing current research in Biology

You Are What You Eat

Mouse

Whenever a person consumes healthier meals and therefore less calories, according to a new study on mice at the NYU Langone Medical Center, they could be lengthening their lives.

Using female mice, scientists fed one group of mice a diet of pellets containing a high amount of calories, while feeding another group of mice a diet of pellets containing 30% less calories. The hippocampus and the region surrounding it in the brains of the mice were then examined for expression of aging-genes throughout various stages of maturity. The results of the study, while not entirely applicable to humans, has shown that the mice that ate the lower calorie diets had less expression of aging genes and had less risk of chronic illnesses such as hypertension and stroke.

“The study does not mean calorie restriction is the ‘fountain of youth,’ but that it does add evidence for the role of diet in delaying the effects of aging and age-related disease.” Stated Stephen D. Ginsberg, a researcher involved with the study. The study examined more than 10,000 genes related to aging, which is a much larger amount than that previously studied by researchers. While the study was performed on mice, the results could be similar in humans, and the researched performed by Dr. Ginsberg and others should serve as a warning for our ever-indulgent world of fast food and high caloric intake.

Article:  http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/11/141117110650.htm

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5 Comments

  1. gergory

    Hey!

    I love this article. It is really cool to me how there is an actual correlation between calorie consumption and aging. My question is about what actual foods cause this correlation in aging. Is it just the lack of calories, or is it an actual type of food that causes all of this?I looked up which foods cause this and learned that vegetarians actually live longer than meat-eaters do! I found this really interesting and am now considering going vegetarian!! http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kathy-freston/plant-based-diet_b_1981838.html

  2. blevans1

    This is a really interesting article. It just shows another reason why eating healthier is better. No one wants to get old and delaying the aging process is so coveted, but the solution could be as easy as eating a healthier diet and cutting back on calories. Here is another article I found on this topic: http://www.healthline.com/health-news/aging-low-calorie-diet-linked-to-longevity-090313

  3. gherloniapparatus

    Wow, this is such an interesting article! We always talk and hear about how dieting is the way to lose weight and stay healthy, but it is amazing to know that there is such a genetic link between dieting and aging. We often times only think about the effect of dieting in changing ones appearance solely on the basis of their weight. However, I’m really interested in learning more about how life expectancy and aging in its relation to eating better and living a healthier lifestyle. Here is a link to more detail about the topic: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3583891/

  4. andybody

    That’s very interesting. I wonder if the experiment would have the same results on humans as it did on mice. And if not, then why the results would be different. In the following article (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2851235/) authors Richard Weindruch, Ph.D. and Rajindar S. Sohal, Ph.D write that in studies, rats with an unregulated caloric intake that are still kept lean through exercise have the same mean life span as rats of the same weight that have lower caloric intakes. However: the rats with the higher caloric intake do have lower maximum life spans.

  5. fishinthesie

    This is really interesting pintocytosis! I think people often wonder if eating healthy really does anything for you in the long run, and in my opinion it does somewhat. That being said, I think your genes independently play a much larger role in health and aging. One example of this is my grandmother who is currently 97, looks incredible for her age, and hasn’t eaten a healthy thing her entire life.
    I found an article that addresses what your diet does for your DNA: http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/epigenetics/nutrition/

    It even addresses a new field of study called Nutrigenomics. This studies the effect of diets on genes and how your genes can tell you what you need in your diet. This is some pretty cool stuff!

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