Cardiovascular disease is a main cause of morbidity and a leading cause of death of the elderly in Western societies. It is widely accepted that the dietary regimen known as caloric restriction, undernutrition without malnutrition, delays the onset of aging and extends lifespan in laboratory animal models. Evidence supporting the role of caloric restriction intervening in the cardiovascular aging...
The focus of this chapter is on current research involving long-term calorie restriction (CR) in humans and the resulting physiological and behavioral changes. Special emphasis is given to the first completed clinical studies which have investigated the effects of controlled, high-quality energy-restricted diets on both biomarkers of longevity and on risk factors for the development of chronic diseases...
In the U.S., cancer is the second most common cause of death overall ( http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/FASTATS/lcod.htm ) and the first in large subsets of the population; any interventions which delay or prevent cancer offer a dramatic extension of healthspan and lifespan, along with a reduction in suffering and disability and decreased health care costs. Calorie restriction (CR), initially studied as restriction...
During the twentieth century human life expectancy at birth increased by almost 30 years in developed countries and in the twenty-first century it is continuing to rise about 2 months in every year. Currently this is due mainly to medical advances reducing mortality from cardiovascular disease and cancer. In the twenty-first century the epidemic of obesity caused by overeating and reduced physical...