Cut calories for a younger heart

A very low calorie diet can help the heart age more slowly, according to researchers who released what they call the first-ever human study on the subject.

The findings confirmed earlier studies on mice and rats that demonstrate the cardiac benefits of a restricted calorie diet.

The study looked at the heart function of 25 members of the Caloric Restriction Society, ages 41 to 64, who consume 1,400 to 2,000 nutritionally balanced calories per day. They were compared with 25 people who eat a typical Western diet, consuming 2,000 to 3,000 daily calories on average.

The result: Those limiting caloric intake had the heart functions of much younger people, typically about 15 years younger than their age. Ultrasound exams showed group members had hearts that appeared more elastic than most people their age; their hearts were also able to relax between beats in a way similar to hearts in younger people.

"This is the first study to demonstrate that long-term calorie restriction with optimal nutrition has cardiac-specific effects that (delay or reverse) age-associated declines in heart function," said Luigi Fontana, lead author and assistant professor of medicine at Washington University in St. Louis.

Fontana said simply consuming less food is not the answer. Members of the study group eat food resembling a traditional Mediterranean diet, focusing on vegetables, olive oil, beans, whole grains, fish and fruit. They avoid refined and processed foods, soft drinks, desserts, white bread and other sources of "empty" calories.

For the general public, the researchers recommend a moderate reduction in calories, combined with moderate, regular exercise.

•	Cut Calories For A Younger Heart Health Watch CBS News, Friday, Jan. 13, 2006 Byline: Associated Press

•	Low-calorie, high-quality diet keeps us young, study says St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Friday, Jan. 13, 2006 Byline: Tina Hesman, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

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