Caloric restriction and human longevity: what can we learn from the Okinawans?

Abstract

Caloric (or dietary) restriction (CR) extends lifespan and lowers risk for age associated diseases in a phylogenetically diverse group of species. Whether prolonged CR increases average or maximum lifespan or promotes a more youthful physiology in humans at advanced ages is not yet known. However, available epidemiological evidence indicates that CR may already have contributed to an extension of average and maximum life span in one human population and appears to have lowered risk for age associated chronic diseases in other human populations. We review the human studies in the context of a special human population, older Okinawans, who appear to have undergone a mild form of prolonged CR for about half their adult lives.

Genome-Environment Interactions That Modulate Aging: Powerful Targets for Drug Discovery

“…In men and women undergoing CR for an average of six years, CR has been reported to lower body temperature (Soare et al, 2011). Moreover, the Okinawan population in Japan, by avoiding high-calorie sugars, saturated fats, and processed foods and instead consuming more vegetables and fruits, seems to have undergone a mild form of CR for decades that could have contributed to the lower risk of age-related chronic diseases and mortality among older Okinawans compared with elderly people in the rest of Japan (Willcox et al, 2006).…”

Caloric restriction and heart function: is there a sensible link?

“…Other than heart rate, CR may also participate in the regulation of blood pressure. Hypertension is a major risk factor for coronary artery disease and stroke [47] . Both systolic and diastolic blood pressures are significantly reduced in rats maintained on a CR diet [48] .…”

Exceptional Longevity in Okinawa:

“…We think that both could apply to the findings for Okinawa. The differences in behavior and nutrition between the two groups of generations in Okinawa and Japan have been established (Kagawa 1978), and caloric restriction only affected those born before WW II (Willcox et al 2006). Nevertheless, the impact of nutrition would have to be enormous to justify the survival rates, and such a hypothesis would have difficulty explaining the considerable difference between males and females.…”

“…The second hypothesis might be that the age reporting is less reliable for cohorts born in Okinawa before 1945 than in Japan as a whole. The first hypothesis has been supported by several studies that demonstrated the positive impact of caloric restriction on the first group of cohorts (Willcox et al 2006) and the negative effects of "westernization", which mainly applies to the younger generations (Kagawa 1978). More recently, Hokama and Binns (2008) attributed this contrast to lower birth weights among the post WW II cohorts.…”