Researchers from Pennington Biomedical Research Center report that eating less may translate into less oxidative damage, reducing the effects of aging.
To examine the effects of calorie intake on oxidative damage, researchers assigned 36 overweight participants to one of three diets.
One group received 100% of their recommended energy requirement, another group had their calorie intake decreased by 25%, while the third group had their energy intake decreased by 12.5% and their energy expenditure increased by 12.5%.
After 6 months, researchers found that a 25% calorie deficit, through diet and/or exercise resulted in a decrease of body energy expenditure (i.e. overall calories burned). The participants who had a calorie deficit through diet and/or exercise experienced a reduced amount of DNA damage in their muscles - a marker of oxidative stress.
While this study suggest short-term caloric restriction may produce beneficial physiological changes, the findings are only preliminary, and further studies are needed examine the relationship between calorie intake and oxidative stress.
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