Research
Energy balance
Caloric Restriction (CR) extends lifespan and mitigates aging biomarkers primarily by inhibiting mTORC1 signaling, thereby inducing autophagy, rather than solely through antioxidant effects.
You don't need to starve yourself. The paper suggests that 'amino acid-restriction' alone can trigger the CR response. Focus on reducing overall caloric intake or specific amino acids (like methionine/leucine) periodically to activate mTOR inhibition and autophagy, rather than just eating 'healthy' without regard to quantity.
GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
Given that mTOR is capable of sensing the nutritional state of the cell, it was proposed to play an important role in Caloric Restriction (CR) therapy. Indeed, mTOR signaling network was shown to mediate lifespan extension by CR... Such ROS regulation rules out the Free Radicals Theory of Aging, at least partially.
Why this rating
Strong evidence from multiple animal models (mice, yeast, flies) showing consistent lifespan extension.
Source
Hallmarks of Aging: An Autophagic Perspective
María Carolina Barbosa et al. · Frontiers in Endocrinology · 2019
DOI 10.3389/fendo.2018.00790
narrative_reviewCited 269×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
More from this paper
- Enhancing autophagic activity, particularly through genetic upregulation of autophagy-related genes (e.g., Atg5) or chaperone-mediated autophagy receptors (LAMP2A), extends lifespan and mitigates age-related physiological decline in mammalian models.Moderate
- Decline in mitophagy and autophagy with age leads to the accumulation of damaged mitochondria and ROS, contributing to sarcopenia, neurodegeneration, and cardiovascular decline.Moderate
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