Natural Choices — Health Food, Organic Produce, Gluten Free, Vitamins, Supplements — Columbus, Bartholomew County, Indiana

Studies say that almost 30 million Americans age 20 and up are at a crucial crossroads in life. Excessive caloric intake is taking control and beginning to play with their life and longevity without even knowing.

Though appearing thin and fit looking on the outside, and even when dieting and exercising properly, they still are most likely taking in too many calories than they should.

The research conducted via the Mayo Clinic revealed that people are still at risk and susceptible to deadly consequences:

• Four-fold higher rates of metabolic syndrome in later life.

• Increased cardiovascular disease risk.

• Blood lipid abnormalities in men and women.

• Hypertension in men.

• Double the risk of cardiac death in women.

The main dilemma with taking in too many calories is the fact that this practice hastens the pathological aging process. A way to stimulate genes, which favor youthful physiological traits, is caloric restriction, or CR. What caloric restriction can do is slow the pathological aging process, which in turn lengthens longevity and overall personal health.

Calorie restriction mimetics are a handful of nutrients which stimulate the beneficial aspects of CR without the need for harsh dieting practices.

In 1989, a landmark study on calorie restriction and its impact on longevity began. The study used Rhesus monkeys, due to their biological and aging characteristic similarity to humans. The study used two equal groups of monkeys. One group comprised of monkeys, which ate a normal diet of food and water. The second group ate a diet 30% lower in total calories. After 20 years, the group, which ate an unaltered diet, experienced a 37% mortality rate of age-related deaths, while the group, eating 30% lower calories, experienced a 13% death rate. Calorie restriction reduced degenerative diseases by a factor of three. In 2009, the journal, Science, published the results of the study.

In today’s environment, it is difficult to reduce one’s calories, but for those who can, life extension may be one of the impacts based on this study.  If you find, you are unable to reduce your calories, scientists have found a select group of nutraceuticals, which mimic ‘caloric restriction’ without the need for a reduction in calories.  Genes have the capacity to influence the life span directly by regulating various aging factors (e.g., inflammation, metabolic function, immunity, etc.)

To find out more about the study or what you can do to mimic calorie restriction, stop by Natural Choices in Columbus Indiana and talk with Carolyn.