Can Fasting Slow Aging?

Intermittent fasting might improve health, at least according to research in animals

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In the beloved novel , an old sheep advises the gluttonous rat Templeton that he would live longer if he ate less. “Who wants to live forever?” Templeton sneers. “I get untold satisfaction from the pleasures of the feast.”

It is easy to empathize with Templeton, but the sheep's claim has some merit. Studies have shown that reducing typical calorie consumption, usually by 30 to 40 percent, extends life span by a third or more in many animals, including nematodes, fruit flies and rodents. When it comes to primates and people, however, the picture is unclear. One long-term study of calorie-restricted rhesus monkeys showed that the stringent diets increased survival; another such study, published in 2012, surprisingly failed to show that. Yet a 2014 report suggested that the control monkeys in the latter study, which supposedly were not calorie-restricted, were actually on diets tantamount to mild calorie restriction. That may account for the study's failure to show a significant longevity difference between its controls and experimental animals. Even if calorie restriction does not help anyone live longer, a large portion of the data supports the idea that limiting food intake reduces the risks of diseases common in old age and lengthens the period of life spent in good health.

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