Subtracting Calories May Not Add Years To Life

Scientists have known for decades that lab rats and mice will live far longer than normal if they're fed a super-low-calorie diet, and that's led some people to eat a near-starvation diet in the hopes that it will extend the human life span, too.

But a new study in monkeys suggests they may be disappointed.

The long-awaited results of this study, which started back in 1987, show that rhesus monkeys fed a diet with 30 percent fewer calories than normal did not live unusually long lives.


The monkey study is about as close as it's possible to get to knowing how caloric restriction might affect the life spans of people, says Rafael de Cabo of the National Institute on Aging in Baltimore, noting that humans are so long-lived that a long-term study wouldn't be practical.