The Study
The Influence of Dietary Fat Source on Life Span in Calorie Restricted Mice.
This study shows that mice on a low-calorie diet lived longer when they ate more saturated and monounsaturated fats (like lard) compared to those eating more polyunsaturated fats (like fish or soybean oil). But we can't say for sure that the fat caused the longer life — it just shows a link in this experiment.
Analysis score
Maximum 72 for a cohort study.
Where the score came from
Mice that ate less lived longer, especially when their food had fat from lard instead of fish or soybean oil.
Where does this study sit?
Reviews of RCTs (Meta-analyses)
Max 100Randomized Trials
Max 90Reviews of Cohort Studies
Max 85Cohort Studies
Max 72Reviews of Case-Control Studies
Max 63Case-Control Studies
Max 58Cross-Sectional & Case Series
Max 50Expert Opinion
Max 510 / 100
Quality 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.
Key takeaways
Summary
Based on the study abstract and findings.
- 1This study was in mice, so we can't say if it works the same in humans.
- 2All mice that ate less lived longer.
- 3Mice eating less and getting fat from lard lived the longest.
Score breakdown, methodology, conflicts of interest, evidence analysis & raw study data
Publication
Journal
The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences
Year
2015
Authors
J. López-Domínguez, J. Ramsey, Dianna Tran, D. Imai, A. Koehne, S. Laing, S. Griffey, Kyoungmi Kim, Sandra L. Taylor, K. Hagopian, J. M. Villalba, G. López-Lluch, P. Navas, R. McDonald
Related Content
Videos (1)
Claims (9)
Eating fewer calories might help your body handle a not-so-great diet better by boosting its ability to stay healthy metabolically.
Polyunsaturated fats go bad more easily than other fats—both in your pantry and in your body—because of their chemical structure, which can lead to more damage in cells.
If your food has bad fats, your body uses up its antioxidants fighting those instead of using them to protect your cells and help you live longer.
If you eat less food, having more saturated fats in your body might help you live longer.
In mice on a low-calorie diet, eating more fat from lard seems to help them live longer than eating fats from fish or soybean oil.
Mice that eat fewer calories live longer, and among those on a low-calorie diet, the ones eating mostly lard seem to live the longest.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making health decisions.