Low-cal diet may reduce cancer in monkeys
By John Travis
Here’s a fact that people stuffed with Thanksgiving stuffing might well contemplate: According to studies of short-lived species such as worms, flies, and mice, slashing normal calorie consumption by one-third can extend an animal’s natural life span and reduce its odds of diseases such as cancer. Researchers monitoring monkeys on calorie-restricted diets have also seen signs that this strategy can benefit long-lived primates (SN: 3/15/97, p. 162: https://www.sciencenews.org/pages/sn_arc97/3_15_97/bob1.htm) and, presumably, people.
At a gerontology meeting in Washington, D.C., this week, Angela Black of the National Institute on Aging (NIA) in Bethesda, Md., reported for the first time preliminary data suggesting that calorie-restricted monkeys are developing fewer chronic diseases, particularly cancer and endometriosis, than are monkeys that eat as much as they want.