Scottsdale – Reports from Reuters involving a 20-year study of monkeys shows that a reduced-calorie diet results in less disease and a longer life span, according to U.S. researchers on Thursday, a finding that could apply to humans. The researchers studied rhesus monkeys placing them on a strict, reduced-calorie diet. These subjects were three times less likely to die from age-related diseases like heart disease, cancer and diabetes over the study period than monkeys that ate freely and without restrictions.

“We have been able to show that caloric restriction can slow the aging process in a primate species,” Richard Weindruch of the University of Wisconsin in Madison, said in a statement. “We observed that caloric restriction reduced the risk of developing an age-related disease by a factor of three and increased survival,” Weindruch said.

In his study, the researchers tested the effects of calorie restriction over two decades in a group of rhesus macaque monkeys. Half of the monkeys were allowed to eat as they pleased, and the other half ate a carefully controlled diet that provided just two-thirds of the calories they would normally choose to eat. Twenty years later, half of the monkeys that were allowed to eat freely have survived, while 80 percent of the monkeys that ate 30 percent fewer calories survived.

I think this is an interesting study that again points to increased calorie consumption as a significant factor that can limit the life span of study animals. This research is in-line with results of calorie over-consumption in other animals and it would be interesting to speculate what a similar study would find if it was done on humans. The researchers imply in the article that lower disease and increased life-span may result if humans consume less calories.