How to Live Longer: Eat Fewer Calories

The old adage about having our cake and eating it too is looking increasingly unlikely, as scientists learn more about the relationship of diet and longevity.  Put succinctly, more calories=shorter life;  fewer calories=longer life. This video, The Science of Aging, is presented on Boston.com by New England Cable News. It quotes researchers who believe that a slightly calorie-deprived body –say 1800 calories a day for humans, performs more efficiently, has more energy, is more resistent to disease, and lives longer. The piece reports that the same discipline apparently pays off for rodents too. A Harvard Medical School researcher explains that when rats are fed a diet with 30 percent fewer calories than they would normally eat, they live 30 to 50 percent longer.  Watch the video.