Food effects

A Owen and Canto live near each other. They lead similar lives and are close in age, but they look very different. Canto is strong and healthy. Owen, on the other hand, is slow and heavy. He is losing his hair, and he moves like an old man. The biggest difference between Owen and Canto, however, is their life expectancy. Scientists expect Canto to live 30 percent longer than Owen. Every day for 17 years, Canto has eaten a diet with many fewer calories than Owen. Scientists think this is the reason Canto does not have heart disease or diabetes, one common health problems in old age. It seems that eating less has kept Canto’s body younger. B Owen and Canto are not people – they are monkeys. They live in a scientific research laboratory. Scientists at the lab are studying the effects of low calorie diets. Scientists in other laboratories around the world are doing similar research. So far, the results suggest the same thing. If you restrict the number of calories that an animal eats, it will live longer than an animal that eats a lot. C Scientists are beginning to understand the reason for the benefits of eating less. When the body gets less food, the body produces a substance called sirtuin. This substance acts on the genes in the body that control aging. D Scientists are beginning to study the effects of calorie restriction on humans, too. In the first group, people ate a normal diet. They consumed between 2,000 and 3,500 calories a day. In the second group, people ate a healthy, low-calorie diet. They consumed only 1,000 to 2,000 calories a day. After three years, the people in the second group were significantly healthier. They had lowered their risk of diabetes and heart disease.