Research
Hormonal
Calorie restriction reduces oxidative damage to macromolecules (DNA, proteins, lipids) and down-regulates the insulin/IGF-1/mTOR signaling pathways, which are key mechanisms for extending healthspan and lifespan.
While CR reduces oxidative stress and IGF-1 signaling, these are downstream effects of the metabolic state. You cannot simply take antioxidant supplements to achieve these benefits; the hormonal and metabolic shifts require actual caloric restriction.
ModerateSupportsMEDIUM confidence
Long-term CR reduces the age-associated accumulation of oxidative damage to proteins, lipids and DNA... CR down-regulates the insulin/IGF-1/mTOR pathways, which, in turn, activates other anti-aging pathways in various mammalian cells.
Why this rating
Mechanistic evidence is strong in rodents, but human data is less clear, and the causal link of oxidative stress is debated.
Source
Calorie restriction and prevention of age‐associated chronic disease
Daniela Omodei et al. · FEBS Letters · 2011
DOI 10.1016/j.febslet.2011.03.015
narrative_reviewCited 290×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
More from this paper
- Calorie restriction (CR) without malnutrition prevents or delays age-associated chronic diseases, including abdominal obesity, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular diseases, in both non-human primates and humans.Good
- In humans, severe calorie restriction does not reduce serum IGF-1 levels unless protein intake is also reduced, whereas in rodents, CR reduces IGF-1 without protein restriction.Good
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