Mixed
Caloric restriction (30-40%) delays age-related DNA methylation drift, resulting in a significantly younger biological (methylation) age compared to chronological age in mice and rhesus monkeys.
In animal models, sustained caloric restriction (30-40% reduction) significantly slows the epigenetic aging clock, making biological tissues appear years younger than their chronological age. This suggests that managing energy intake may be a potent lever for delaying molecular aging processes in mammals.
Twenty-two to 30-year-old rhesus monkeys exposed to 30% caloric restriction since 7–14 years of age showed attenuation of age-related methylation drift compared to ad libitum-fed controls such that their blood methylation age appeared 7 years younger than their chronologic age. Even more pronounced effects were seen in 2.7–3.2-year-old mice exposed to 40% caloric restriction starting at 0.3 years of age.
Why this rating
Strong experimental design with cross-species validation (mice, monkeys, humans) and multiple tissues, though human data is observational/cross-sectional.
Source
Caloric restriction delays age-related methylation drift
Shinji Maegawa et al. · Nature Communications · 2017
DOI 10.1038/s41467-017-00607-3
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