Can eating less make monkeys live longer?
Caloric restriction reduces age-related and all-cause mortality in rhesus monkeys
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Scientists fed some monkeys less food for over 20 years to see if it helped them live longer and healthier lives.
No biological mechanisms were identified in this study. This may be an epidemiological, observational, or survey-based study that reports associations rather than proposing causal biological pathways.
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Evidence Score
Groups of people are followed over time to see who develops an outcome. Strong for identifying risk factors and associations, but cannot prove causation as firmly as RCTs.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Scientists fed some monkeys less food for over 20 years to see if it helped them live longer and healthier lives.
No biological mechanisms were identified in this study. This may be an epidemiological, observational, or survey-based study that reports associations rather than proposing causal biological pathways.
Systematic Reviews & Meta-Analyses
Max 100Randomized Controlled Trials
Max 90Cohort Studies
Max 72Case-Control Studies
Max 58Cross-Sectional Studies
Max 44Case Reports & Case Series
Max 30Expert Opinion & Narrative Reviews
Max 519 / 72
Evidence Score
Groups of people are followed over time to see who develops an outcome. Strong for identifying risk factors and associations, but cannot prove causation as firmly as RCTs.
Publication
Authors
Colman RJ, Beasley TM, Kemnitz JW, Johnson SC, Weindruch R, Anderson RM
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Claims (6)
Rhesus monkeys fed a reduced-calorie diet lived longer than the typical lifespan of 26 years seen in monkeys fed normally at the same research center.
In rhesus monkeys, reducing calorie intake lowers death rates from aging and increases lifespan, showing that how diet affects aging is similar in primates and other animals with shorter lives.
Rhesus monkeys that ate 30% fewer calories than normal, starting between ages 7 and 14 and continuing for more than 20 years, died from age-related causes at 2.9 times lower rates and from any cause at 1.8 times lower rates than monkeys that ate without restriction.
Rhesus monkeys in the NIA study weighed less than those in the Wisconsin study because they consumed fewer calories, and this difference in calorie intake explains why survival rates were similar between the two groups.
In rhesus monkeys, a diet with fewer calories does not raise the likelihood of dying from causes unrelated to aging, because the rate of such deaths relative to total lifespan is the same as in monkeys eating normally.