Low Carb Yields Longer Life ?? Speculation

Jim said:

The article below cites research which claims that burning fats for
energy (ketosis and Low Carb as my interjection) produces fewer oxygen
radicals which can damage cells and exacerbate the effects of aging.

It would be ever so nice to be able to claim that low carb could offer
life extension much like the very low calorie (carbohydrate heavy ? )
life extension diets claim.

=========================== Article ===========

Fat Hormone May Contribute To Longevity

ScienceDaily (Nov. 23, 2007) — Both humans and mice that manage to live
to a ripe, old age show a clear change in their glucose metabolism, but
it's unclear whether this change alone can increase lifespan.

Using a mouse model of longevity, Terry Combs and colleagues report that
changes in metabolism can indeed increase longevity. They demonstrated
that long-lived Snell dwarf mice burn less glucose and more fatty acids
during periods of fasting, and as a result produce fewer free radicals.

The key to this switch may be adiponectin, a hormone produced by fat
cells that helps lower glucose production and stimulates cells to use
fat for energy instead. The researchers found that Snell mice had three
times as much adiponectin in their blood as control mice; Snell mice
also had fewer triglycerides in their cells, indicative of higher fat
metabolism.

The benefit of burning fats instead of glucose for energy is that it
produces fewer oxygen radicals which can damage cells and exacerbate the
effects of aging. Confirming this, Combs and colleagues found far less
free radical damage, measured as the frequency of a chemical
modification on protein known as carbonyl groups, in Snell mice than
controls.

Article: "Low utilization of circulating glucose after food withdrawal
in Snell dwarf mice" by Natasha L. Brooks, Chad M. Trent, Carl F.
Raetzsch, Kevin Flurkey, Gunnar Boysen, Michael T. Perfetti, Yo-Chan
Jeong, Simon Klebanov, Kajal B. Patel, Valerie R. Khodush, Lawrence L.
Kupper, David Carling, James A. Swenberg, David E. Harrison, and Terry
P. Combs

Adapted from materials provided by American Society for Biochemistry and
Molecular Biology.

I don't know the research of the diets. I would just refer to Weston
Price's anthropological studies, where he found that populations with a
diet avoiding refined flour and sugar and relying on traditional
lifestyles with lots of exercises saw very high lifespans. That might be
a start.

Jim said:

The article below cites research which claims that burning fats for
energy (ketosis and Low Carb as my interjection) produces fewer oxygen
radicals which can damage cells and exacerbate the effects of aging.

It would be ever so nice to be able to claim that low carb could offer
life extension much like the very low calorie (carbohydrate heavy ? )
life extension diets claim.

Under a year ago Discover magazine dedicated an entire issue to
nutrition issues including lifespan extention calorie reduction
experiments on animals ranging from tiny worms through dogs.

Part of the discussion was that the mechanisms of calorie reduction
were reducted insulin (a direct cause of short term low carbing) and
reduced T3 thyroid output ( a direct cause of long term very low
carbing once below some amount left to lose).

Free radicals lowered by low carbing (as opposed to reduction of
all 3 macronutrients) is yet another piece of support for this
speculative hypothesis.

x-no-archive: yes

Doug Freyburger said:

Under a year ago Discover magazine dedicated an entire issue to
nutrition issues including lifespan extention calorie reduction
experiments on animals ranging from tiny worms through dogs.

Part of the discussion was that the mechanisms of calorie reduction
were reducted insulin (a direct cause of short term low carbing) and
reduced T3 thyroid output ( a direct cause of long term very low
carbing once below some amount left to lose).

Free radicals lowered by low carbing (as opposed to reduction of
all 3 macronutrients) is yet another piece of support for this
speculative hypothesis.

Actually, T3 drops rapidly on either ketogenic or very low calorie diets
while inactive, reverse T3 rises.

One mechanism for this may be that cortisol availability rises when less
insulin is present to inhibit it, and cortisol lowers TSH and T3.

Susan

Doug Freyburger said:

Jim said:

The article below cites research which claims that burning fats for
energy (ketosis and Low Carb as my interjection) produces fewer oxygen
radicals which can damage cells and exacerbate the effects of aging.

It would be ever so nice to be able to claim that low carb could offer
life extension much like the very low calorie (carbohydrate heavy ? )
life extension diets claim.

Under a year ago Discover magazine dedicated an entire issue to
nutrition issues including lifespan extention calorie reduction
experiments on animals ranging from tiny worms through dogs.

Part of the discussion was that the mechanisms of calorie reduction
were reducted insulin (a direct cause of short term low carbing) and
reduced T3 thyroid output ( a direct cause of long term very low
carbing once below some amount left to lose).

Free radicals lowered by low carbing (as opposed to reduction of
all 3 macronutrients) is yet another piece of support for this
speculative hypothesis.

I'd like to find a link between low carb and increased lifespan, if, of
course, one exists.

Kind of a nice touch to the "need for long term studies of low carb diet
and health".

"One of the side effects is longer life." Tbat would be a nice comeback
to the doubters of the health of the diet.

Jim said:

I'd like to find a link between low carb and increased lifespan, if, of
course, one exists.

Indirect evidence is readily available. Everything from these
studies that suggest that reduced carbs should work as well
as reduced total calories, to better teeth from lack of sugar
and starch to rot them.

Quoted message said:

Kind of a nice touch to the "need for long term studies of low carb diet
and health".

But who would the experiments be done on and for how long?
Show me a society with good longevity and I'll show you a
society with a tight diet of locally grown foods, but it could as
easily be high carb low fat as low carb high fat. We can't
feed the inmates in prison A low fat, the inmates in prison B
low carb, wait several decades, and compare lifespans. There
are too many variables for such data to be valid. And our
nearest relatives the ape live so long and don't have our genetic
history as the world's top pack predator.

Quoted message said:

"One of the side effects is longer life." Tbat would be a nice comeback
to the doubters of the health of the diet.

It sure would. But doubters won't believe it even with far more
evidence than is currently available. Especially since some of
those doubters have motivations that are religious and/or politicial.