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Eating less could add years to your life, if a new study is to be believed.
Scientists at Yale University say cutting calories can “rejuvenate” an important part of your immune system.
Adults who reduced their calorie intake by about 14 percent had a better functioning thymus.
This equates to about 300 calories for men following the dietary guidelines of 2,000 per day for women or 2,500 for men.
The thymus, an organ that sits above the heart and produces disease-fighting T cells, typically ages faster than the rest of the body.
Stopping its decline could extend healthy lifespan, according to Professor Vishwa Deep Dixit, a nutritionist who was part of the research team.
Researchers believe that reducing calorie intake could also prevent inflammation - when the immune system overreacts, leading to a range of diseases.
The study, described by researchers as “exciting,” adds to decades of evidence that reducing calorie intake can extend the lifespan of flies, worms and mice by strengthening the thymus.
It is the first to look at whether the same thing happens in humans.
![Wenn Sie weniger essen, könnten Sie Ihr Leben um Jahre verlängern, indem Sie eine Drüse verjüngen, die für Ihr Immunsystem von entscheidender Bedeutung ist, behaupten Forscher der Yale University [stock pic]](https://redaktion.institut-der-gesundheit.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Weniger-zu-essen-koennte-Sie-wirklich-laenger-leben-lassen-%E2%80%9EAufregende.jpg)
Eating less could add years to your life by rejuvenating a gland crucial to your immune system, Yale University researchers claim [stock pic]
The study, published in Science recruited 238 non-obese adults aged 26 to 47 and gave two-thirds the task of reducing their calorie intake.
They were instructed to follow a diet plan aimed at reducing their intake by a quarter. They were not asked to stick to a specific amount of food.
All participants had their body weight measured regularly to gauge how well they were sticking to the plan.
Measurements showed that the volunteers reduced their intake by an average of about 14 percent, ranging from 12 to 22 percent.
When researchers examined MRI scans two years later, they discovered that those who ate less had better-functioning thymus glands.
They measured the number of T cells as well as the weight and fat mass around the thymus.
They also found a reduction in fat around the gland, compared to little change in the group that had no dietary restrictions over the course of the study.
Lead author Professor Dixit, director of the Yale Center for Research on Aging, said this showed that after two years of eating less, the thymus produced more T cells than at the start of the study.
He said: “The fact that this organ can be rejuvenated is, in my opinion, amazing because there is very little evidence that this happens in humans.
“The fact that this is even possible is very exciting.
“There is so much debate about which type of diet is better – low carb or fat, higher protein, intermittent fasting – and I think time will tell which of these are important.
“But this is a very well-controlled study that shows that simple calorie restriction, rather than a specific diet, has a remarkable effect in terms of biology and shifting the immune metabolic state in a direction that protects human health.
“So from a public health standpoint, I think there is hope.”
The study also showed that reducing calorie intake inhibits the production of a specific protein called PLA2G7, which is associated with aging.
It is produced by immune cells known as macrophages and can cause age-related inflammation.
Professor Dixit said: “These results show that PLA2G7 is one of the drivers of the effects of calorie restriction.
“Identifying these drivers helps us understand how the metabolic system and the immune system communicate with each other, which can point us to potential targets that can improve immune function, reduce inflammation and potentially even extend healthy lifespan.”