How calorie-restricted diets fight obesity

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Researchers searching for the secrets of how calorie-restricted diets increase longevity are reporting discovery of proteins in the fat cells of human volunteers that change as pounds drop off. The proteins could become markers for monitoring or boosting the effectiveness of calorie-restricted diets the only scientifically proven way of extending life span in animals. Their study appears online in ACS' Journal of Proteome Research
Edwin Mariman and his colleagues note that researchers have long known that sharply restricting intake of calories while maintaining good nutrition makes animals live longer and stay healthier. Recent studies suggest that people may gain similar benefits. But researchers know little about how these diets work in humans, especially their effects on cells that store fat.

The newly released study focused on proteins in abdominal subcutaneous fat cells from a group of overweight people before and after they went on a five-week-long calorie-restricted diet. The volunteers each lost an average of 21 pounds. Researchers identified changes in the levels of 6 proteins as the volunteers shed pounds, including proteins that tell the body to store fat. These proteins could serve as important markers for improving or tracking the effectiveness of therapies involving calorie-restricted diets, they say.


Posted by: JoAnn    Source