Improving Healthspan and Delaying Aging through Dietary Control

COLD SPRING, N.Y. - May 8, 2014 - PRLog -- Top scientists from around the world reported on the diverse ways in which certain dietary adjustments—in particular, restriction of sulfur amino acids—can improve healthspan and delay aging. These developments appear in the report on the First International Mini-Symposium on Methionine Restriction and Lifespan, published in Frontiers in Genetics and Aging: Genetics of Aging, April 21, 2014. The Orentreich Foundation for the Advancement of Science, Inc. (OFAS), leaders in research into the extension of lifespan through restriction of the essential amino acid methionine, hosted the symposium. Among the highlights:

•  Preconditioning mice by short-term restriction of diet, proteins, or specific amino acids is protective against surgical stress, presented by James Mitchell, PhD (Harvard School of Public Health).

•  Short-term methionine restriction lowers LDL and total cholesterol and glucose in healthy human adults, as shown in a joint study conducted by John P. Richie, Jr., PhD (Penn State University College of Medicine) and OFAS. Methionine is a sulfur amino acid present predominantly in meat, dairy, and eggs.

•  Mice on a high-fat, methionine-restricted diet show smaller fat deposits as well as decreased macrophage infiltration in fat depots, a mechanism underlying obesity-associated insulin resistance, described in a study by Gene P. Ables, PhD (OFAS).

The full article may be viewed at http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fgene.2014.... OFAS will host the next symposium onhealthspan, sulfur amino acids, and dietary control in the fall of 2015.

About OFAS, Inc: OFAS is dedicated to biomedical research that prevents, halts, or reverses those disorders that decrease the quality or length of life. Founded in 1961 by Norman Orentreich, MD, FACP, OFAS is a non-profit private operating foundation.