Thin Monkeys Live Longer

Posted in Uncategorized on July 15th, 2009 by Greg

I know that title sounds a little strange this early in the morning, but I wanted to share with you a quick note about a study my good friend Dr. Chaney sent me that was published in the July 9, 2009 edition of Science magazine. This was a twenty year study with rhesus monkeys which was a BIG DEAL in the news! Here is the exact email below. To skip that and see how this study can affect your life click the link below:

Will A Caloric Restriction Save Your Life?

A study published in the July 9, 2009 edition of
magazine reported the results of a twenty year study
with rhesus monkeys. You may have heard about it in the
news or read about it in your local paper because this
study was a BIG DEAL!

You see, we already knew that every species tested
from single cell organisms to fruit flies to worms to
mice lived longer when calories were restricted.

We knew that the same genetic regulators of aging were
found in primates, but no one had definitively shown
that caloric restriction prolonged life in primates.

So this study was the first of its kind!

And because rhesus monkeys live an average of 27 years,
it had to be a 20 year study – no small undertaking.

Back in 1989 Dr. Ricki Colman and Dr.Richard Weindruch
at the Wisconsin National Primate Research Center began
their study with adult monkeys between the ages of 7
and 14 years old. Half of the monkeys were allowed to
eat as much as they liked, while the other half had
their calorie intake reduced by 30%.

Twenty years latter the results were striking.

37% of the monkeys who ate as much as they wanted had
died of age-related diseases such as cancer and heart
disease, while only 13% of the monkeys on the reduced
calorie diet had died from the same diseases.

Diabetes, which is normally common among rhesus
monkeys, was completely absent from the monkeys on a
reduced calorie diet. And the normal shrinking of the
brain that occurs during aging was slowed in the
calorie-restricted monkeys.

Now keep in mind this was not a Doritos versus salads
comparison. Both groups were eating the same good
diets. The only difference between the two groups was
in the caloric intake.

Nor were the free eating animals obese. They were
normal weight. It was just the opposite. The calorie-
restricted group of monkeys weighed less and were
thinner than normal.

The researchers can not yet estimate how much caloric
restriction will increase the lifespan of rhesus
monkeys because not all of the monkeys have yet died.
However, it is clear that the calorie-restricted
monkeys were healthier and had a clear survival benefit
over their peers who were eating at will.

So what does this all mean for you and me?

1) Humans live far too long to be able to design a
study proving that caloric restriction lowers the risk
of disease and extends life in humans. But our genetic
make-up is 99% identical to that of monkeys, so most
experts consider it highly likely that caloric
restriction will have the same benefits in humans that
it has in monkeys and every other species tested.

2) Resveratrol activates the same longevity genes as
caloric restriction and also extends lifespan in every
species tested through mice.

An experiment to determine unambiguously whether
resveratrol can extend lifespan in rhesus monkeys is
currently underway (You only need to wait another 18
years for the results).

That kind of experiment will never be feasible in
humans because of our long lifespan.

However, clinical studies have already shown that
resveratrol positively impacts many of the same disease
risk factors (eg. inflammation, insulin resistance,
oxidative damage) in humans that it affects in mice.

For all of those reasons, many experts consider it
likely that resveratrol will have the same effects on
health and longevity in primates, including humans,
that it has in mice.

So you have to ask yourself after seeing the results:

Will A Caloric Restriction Save Your Life?

Dedicated to your results,

Breakthroughs To Fitness

Long Island Personal Trainer

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