 |
|
Eat less or exercise more? Either way leads to more youthful hearts
January 11, 2008Overweight people who lose a moderate amount of weight get an immediate benefit in the form of better heart health, according to a study conducted at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. And the heart improvements happen whether that weight is shed by eating less or exercising more.
"If individuals want to do something that's good for their heart, then my message to them is lose weight by the method they find most tolerable," says the study's senior author Sándor J. Kovács, Ph.D, M.D., director of the Cardiovascular Biophysics Laboratory and professor of medicine. "They're virtually guaranteed that it will have a salutary effect on their cardiovascular system."
Studying a group of healthy, overweight but not obese, middle-aged men and women, the researchers found that a yearlong regimen of either calorie restriction or exercise increase had positive effects on heart function. Their analysis revealed that heart function was restored to a more youthful state so that during the heart's filling phase (called diastole) it took less time for participants' hearts to relax and fill with blood. The findings will appear in an upcoming issue of the American Journal of Physiology and are now available online.
"As we get older, our tissues become more fibrotic as collagen fibers accumulate," says study co-author John O. Holloszy, M.D., professor of medicine in the Division of Geriatrics and Nutritional Science. "So the arteries and heart muscle stiffen, and the heart doesn't relax as well after contracting. Similar studies that we've conducted with members of the Caloric Restriction with Optimal Nutrition Society (CRONies) show they have heart function resembling much younger people." CRONies voluntarily consume about 25 percent fewer calories than the average American while still maintaining good nutrition.
The scientists used ultrasound imaging (echocardiography) to measure the diastolic or filling phase of the cardiac cycle because it is a crucial indicator of heart health. "During filling, the left ventricle is a suction pump," Kovács explains. "Think of the rubber bulb of an old-fashioned bicycle horn - you squeeze it (the analog of the ejection phase of the cardiac cycle), then let go (the analog of the filling or diastolic phase) and the rubber bulb springs back to its original shape, sucking air back in. Similarly, the heart's muscle and connective tissue are elastic, and after ejecting blood to the body during contraction (systole), the left ventricle springs back to draw in new blood (diastole). It's during this filling phase of the cardiac cycle that subtle changes in heart health can be most readily detected."
By the end of the yearlong study, both the calorie restriction and exercise groups of volunteers lost 12 percent of their weight and 12 percent of their body mass index (BMI), a measurement considered to be a fairly reliable indicator of the amount of body fat. In both groups, participants' hearts responded to this weight loss by gaining the ability to relax more quickly, recovering some of the elasticity characteristic of younger heart tissue. Those in the calorie restriction group achieved slightly more reduction of heart stiffness.
Cardiologists can measure delicate alterations in diastolic function because of the work of Kovács, also professor of cell biology and physiology and adjunct professor of physics and of biomedical engineering, who developed a methodology called parameterized diastolic filling (PDF) formalism, which analyzes the filling of the heart according to physical laws and determines the chamber's elasticity and stiffness. Previous studies in humans using the PDF formalism have shown that it's a more sensitive and specific predictor of cardiovascular health than conventional indexes of heart function determined by echocardiography.
Although previous studies also have indicated that the heart benefits from weight loss, those studies were performed on morbidly obese people, few focused on diastolic function and none used the sophisticated PDF formalism. By looking at filling function in healthy, non-obese people using PDF formalism, the researchers in the current study were able to understand in more detail how normal hearts react to moderate weight loss.
The detailed analysis showed that in both groups, the left ventricle gained an increased capacity to expand to accommodate blood entering during diastole. In the calorie restriction group, the global stiffness of the left ventricle decreased, suggesting that the muscle and connective tissue of the heart more readily sprang back after the contraction phase. This group also experienced a decrease in the internal pressure gradient, indicating that their left ventricles had better suction ability.
The study participants were nonsmokers between ages 50 and 60 and had BMIs between 23.5 and 30, making them high normal to overweight. None of the participants had diabetes, coronary artery disease, stroke, hypertension, cancer or lung disease. Before enrolling in the study, all were relatively sedentary - they exercised less than 20 minutes a day or twice a week.
Twelve participants (four men and eight women) were in the calorie restriction group, in which volunteers reduced the amount of calories they ate between 12 percent and 15 percent. Their physical activity did not change. Thirteen participants (six men and seven women) were in the exercise group and increased their exercise to burn the caloric equivalent of the other group's caloric reduction. The exercise group exercised about six days a week for an hour each session walking, running, cycling or doing elliptical training. Their caloric intake did not change.
Kovács said he feels the study offers encouragement for those who are overweight. "One reason that it's hard to get people to change their behavior and lose weight is that we warn them about consequences of being overweight that might occur sometime in the future - we say if your BMI is too high, eventually you'll develop heart disease, diabetes or hypertension," Kovács says. "But now we can tell them, lose weight and right away you can have better cardiovascular health."
This study was part of a larger trial, CALERIE (Comprehensive Assessment of Long-term Effects of Reducing Intake of Energy), designed to investigate the feasibility of long-term calorie restriction in humans. CALERIE investigators have begun a second phase of their study in which they will determine the effect of calorie restriction in younger people, age 25 to 45.
Washington University School of Medicine
"As we get older, our tissues become more fibrotic as collagen fibers accumulate," says study co-author John O. Holloszy, M.D., professor of medicine in the Division of Geriatrics and Nutritional Science. "So the arteries and heart muscle stiffen, and the heart doesn't relax as well after contracting. Similar studies that we've conducted with members of the Caloric Restriction with Optimal Nutrition Society (CRONies) show they have heart function resembling much younger people." CRONies voluntarily consume about 25 percent fewer calories than the average American while still maintaining good nutrition.
The scientists used ultrasound imaging (echocardiography) to measure the diastolic or filling phase of the cardiac cycle because it is a crucial indicator of heart health. "During filling, the left ventricle is a suction pump," Kovács explains. "Think of the rubber bulb of an old-fashioned bicycle horn - you squeeze it (the analog of the ejection phase of the cardiac cycle), then let go (the analog of the filling or diastolic phase) and the rubber bulb springs back to its original shape, sucking air back in. Similarly, the heart's muscle and connective tissue are elastic, and after ejecting blood to the body during contraction (systole), the left ventricle springs back to draw in new blood (diastole). It's during this filling phase of the cardiac cycle that subtle changes in heart health can be most readily detected."
By the end of the yearlong study, both the calorie restriction and exercise groups of volunteers lost 12 percent of their weight and 12 percent of their body mass index (BMI), a measurement considered to be a fairly reliable indicator of the amount of body fat. In both groups, participants' hearts responded to this weight loss by gaining the ability to relax more quickly, recovering some of the elasticity characteristic of younger heart tissue. Those in the calorie restriction group achieved slightly more reduction of heart stiffness.
Cardiologists can measure delicate alterations in diastolic function because of the work of Kovács, also professor of cell biology and physiology and adjunct professor of physics and of biomedical engineering, who developed a methodology called parameterized diastolic filling (PDF) formalism, which analyzes the filling of the heart according to physical laws and determines the chamber's elasticity and stiffness. Previous studies in humans using the PDF formalism have shown that it's a more sensitive and specific predictor of cardiovascular health than conventional indexes of heart function determined by echocardiography.
Although previous studies also have indicated that the heart benefits from weight loss, those studies were performed on morbidly obese people, few focused on diastolic function and none used the sophisticated PDF formalism. By looking at filling function in healthy, non-obese people using PDF formalism, the researchers in the current study were able to understand in more detail how normal hearts react to moderate weight loss.
The detailed analysis showed that in both groups, the left ventricle gained an increased capacity to expand to accommodate blood entering during diastole. In the calorie restriction group, the global stiffness of the left ventricle decreased, suggesting that the muscle and connective tissue of the heart more readily sprang back after the contraction phase. This group also experienced a decrease in the internal pressure gradient, indicating that their left ventricles had better suction ability.
The study participants were nonsmokers between ages 50 and 60 and had BMIs between 23.5 and 30, making them high normal to overweight. None of the participants had diabetes, coronary artery disease, stroke, hypertension, cancer or lung disease. Before enrolling in the study, all were relatively sedentary - they exercised less than 20 minutes a day or twice a week.
Twelve participants (four men and eight women) were in the calorie restriction group, in which volunteers reduced the amount of calories they ate between 12 percent and 15 percent. Their physical activity did not change. Thirteen participants (six men and seven women) were in the exercise group and increased their exercise to burn the caloric equivalent of the other group's caloric reduction. The exercise group exercised about six days a week for an hour each session walking, running, cycling or doing elliptical training. Their caloric intake did not change.
Kovács said he feels the study offers encouragement for those who are overweight. "One reason that it's hard to get people to change their behavior and lose weight is that we warn them about consequences of being overweight that might occur sometime in the future - we say if your BMI is too high, eventually you'll develop heart disease, diabetes or hypertension," Kovács says. "But now we can tell them, lose weight and right away you can have better cardiovascular health."
This study was part of a larger trial, CALERIE (Comprehensive Assessment of Long-term Effects of Reducing Intake of Energy), designed to investigate the feasibility of long-term calorie restriction in humans. CALERIE investigators have begun a second phase of their study in which they will determine the effect of calorie restriction in younger people, age 25 to 45.
Washington University School of Medicine
Calorie Restriction Current Events and Calorie Restriction News RSSScripps research scientists find new link between insulin and core body temperature
A team led by scientists at The Scripps Research Institute have discovered a direct link between insulin-a hormone long associated with metabolism and metabolic disorders such as diabetes-and core body temperature.
UT Southwestern study shows how substance in grapes may squeeze out diabetes
A naturally produced molecule called resveratrol, found in the skin of red grapes, has been shown to lower insulin levels in mice when injected directly into the brain, even when the animals ate a high-fat diet.
Future diabetes treatment may use resveratrol to target the brain
Resveratrol, a molecule found in red grapes, has been shown to improve diabetes when delivered orally to rodents. Until now, however, little has been known about how these beneficial changes are mediated in the body.
Turning back the clock: Fasting prolongs reproductive life span
Scientific dogma has long asserted that females are born with their entire lifetime's supply of eggs, and once they're gone, they're gone.
The way you eat may affect your risk for breast cancer
How you eat may be just as important as how much you eat, if mice studies are any clue.
Calorie restriction causes temporal changes in liver metabolism
Moderate calorie restriction causes temporal changes in the liver and skeletal muscle metabolism, whereas moderate weight loss affects muscle.
Apple or pear shape is not main culprit to heart woes - it's liver fat
For years, pear-shaped people who carry weight in the thighs and backside have been told they are at lower risk for high blood pressure and heart disease than apple-shaped people who carry fat in the abdomen. But new findings from nutrition researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis suggest body-shape comparisons don't completely explain risk.
A new weapon in the fight against obesity and diabetes
A study appearing November 5 in the journal Cell Metabolism demonstrates that a synthetic new chemical entity protects against diet-induced obesity, improves glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity and enhances exercise endurance by enhancing fat utilization in certain target tissues.
Researchers note differences between people and animals on calorie restriction
Calorie restriction, a diet that is low in calories and high in nutrition, may not be as effective at extending life in people as it is in rodents, according to scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.
Calorie restriction does not appear to induce bone loss in overweight adults
Young adults who follow a diet that is low in calories but nutritionally sound for six months appear to lose weight and fat without significant bone loss.
More Calorie Restriction Current Events and Calorie Restriction News Articles
 |
The CR Way: Using the Secrets of Calorie Restriction for a Longer, Healthier Life by Paul Mcglothin (Author), Meredith Averill (Author) When it comes to living longer, scientists are discovering that less is more. By following Calorie Restriction, a revolutionary diet that provides the body with fewer calories than is traditionally required, people are getting dramatic benefits. Now, with The CR Way, you too can slow the aging process; protect against cardiovascular disease, cancer, and diabetes; and increase your energy and mental capabilities. And, if needed, you'll lose weight and keep it off. Paul McGlothin and Meredith Averill, leaders of the Calorie Restriction Society, provide quick and easy menus and recipes so delicious that you will wonder why you ever wanted to eat more than you need. And for those who want some of the benefits without sacrificing all the calories, the authors will show you how to... |
 |
The Longevity Diet: Discover Calorie Restriction--the Only Proven Way to Slow the Aging Process and Maintain Peak Vitality by Brian M. Delaney (Author), Lisa Walford (Author) At last, a book that synthesizes the increasingly popular concept of calorie restriction (CR)--a life-extending eating strategy with "profound and sustained beneficial effects," according to the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences The Longevity Diet offers clear, straightforward principles for devising an effective eating regimen to live longer and reduce the risks of virtually all the diseases of aging. The concept is simple and flexible---eat fewer calories and choose foods carefully. And it is supported by science: studies on lab mice and other mammals have led to lifespans the human equivalent of which are over 140 years, and many suggest that the benefits extend to humans. |
 |
Eat to Live: The Revolutionary Formula for Fast and Sustained Weight Loss by Joel Fuhrman (Author), Mehmet Oz (Foreword) Dr. Joel Fuhrman's revolutionary diet is not about willpower, it is about knowledge. Eat to Live offers a healthy, effective, and scientifically proven Six-Week Plan for shedding a radical amount of weight quickly. The key to the program's success is simple: health = nutrients: calories When the ratio of nutrients to calories in the food you eat is high, fat melts away. The more nutrient-dense food you consume, the more you will be satisfied with fewer calories and the less you will crave fat and high-calorie foods. Eat to Live will help you live longer, reduce your need for medications, and improve your overall health dramatically. It is a book that will change the way you want to eat. Most of all, though, Eat to Live will enable you to lose more weight than you ever thought possible. |
 |
The Anti-Aging Plan: The Nutrient-Rich, Low-Calorie Way of Eating for a Longer Life--The Only Diet Scientifically Proven to Extend Your Healthy Years by Roy L. Walford (Author), Lisa Walford (Author) The only diet scientifically proven to extend the length and quality of life The late Dr. Roy L. Walford spent much of his life’s work researching low-calorie diets, and is now recognized as a pioneer of what is widely recognized as "calorie restriction" (CR)—a diet consisting of fewer calories while maintaining adequate nutrition. This is the only diet that has been proven to retard aging and increase healthy life span in mammals. In just six months, by eating smaller amounts of highly nutritious foods, men in Dr. Walford’s studies were shown to lose an average of 26 pounds, and women an average of 15 pounds, while cholesterol levels dropped by an average of 68 points. Blood pressure levels dropped from an average of 110/75 to 90/58 after only three months. In this... |
 |
Beyond the 120 Year Diet : How to Double Your Vital Years by Roy Walford (Author) According to Dr. Roy Walford, there's no need for plastic surgery or obsessive exercising to escape the effects of time. He argues that longevity can be significantly increased by a diet that contains all the required nutrients but about a third fewer calories. In this completely revised edition of The 120 Year Diet, Dr. Walford explains - and backs up his explanation with laboratory evidence - why he believes that the anti-aging diet can preserve one's vital, productive years and extend the human life span to well beyond its present maximum. A perfect companion to the author's The Anti-Aging Plan, this book also includes 20 days of varied high-nutrition menus that contain fewer than 1,500 calories a day. |
 |
Calorie Restriction: Diet (nutrition), Okinawa diet, CRON-diet, Muscle atrophy, Hypoglycemia, Neuroglycopenia, Blood pressure, Estrogen receptor, Amyotrophic ... fasting, Fasting, Resveratrol, Starvation by John McBrewster (Editor), Frederic P. Miller (Editor), Agnes F. Vandome (Editor) Calorie restriction - Diet (nutrition), Okinawa diet, CRON-diet, Muscle atrophy, Hypoglycemia, Neuroglycopenia, Blood pressure, Estrogen receptor, Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Intermittent fasting, Fasting, Resveratrol, Starvation, Very low calorie diet, Hormesis, Lloyd Demetrius, Free-radical theory, Body mass index |
 |
Resveratia(Potent Pure Trans-Resvertrol plus Muscadine,120mg) Calorie restriction,boost immunity,improves energy by ELIXIR Nutraceuticals LLC RESVERATIA contains a special and powerful antioxidant called trans-resveratrol that turns on age genes sirtuins. It has apparent positive effects on life span and healthy body functions. According to many credible scientific literatures, when sirtuins age genes are turned on, body metabolism improves and its biochemical effects appear to be caloric restriction (CR). This is very beneficial to your entire body and it is for all adult age groups. RESVERATIA also includes pulverized seeds from a wonder fruit called muscadine. This native American super fruit is grown in the US only and its antioxidant power of 6800 ORAC is twice as much as the next fruit or vegetable, not to mention all the polyphenols and phytonutrients that boost your immune system and maintain vitamins chemical... |
 |
Caloric Restriction: A Key to Understanding and Modulating Aging (Research Profiles in Aging) (v. 1) by E.J. Masoro (Author) For many years, it has been known that when rats and mice are given a reduced amount of food, their life span is increased and they remain healthy and vigorous at advanced ages. What is the reason for this change in the usual pattern of aging? The evidence is overwhelming that the life extension results from a slowing of aging processes. And the factor responsible is the decrease in caloric intake. The obvious question: How does this factor work? A good question - and the reason that research on the anti-aging action of caloric restriction is today one of the most studied research areas in biological gerontology. For it is felt that if the biological mechanisms of the anti-aging action of caloric restriction can be uncovered, we would gain an understanding of the basic nature of aging... |
 |
The Alternate-Day Diet: Turn on Your "Skinny Gene," Shed the Pounds, and Live a Longer and HealthierLife by M.D., James B. Johnson (Author), Sr., M.D., Donald R. Laub (Author) Diet only half the time with this revolutionary, easy-to-follow, safe, and science-based program. The Alternate-Day Diet is based on scientific and clinical studies that show how restricting calories only every other day activates a gene called SIRT1—the “skinny” gene—which results in reduced inflammation, improved insulin resistance, better cellular energy production, and releasing fat cells from around the organs to promote weight loss. This easy-to-follow two step plan will enable readers to enjoy these remarkable and measurable benefits: • Lose fat easily and quickly without deprivation, discomfort, or stress • Improve fat metabolism and avoid regaining lost fat • Slow the aging process • Find relief from symptoms of... |
 |
BMV Quantum Subliminal CD Calorie Restriction: Restricted Caloric Intake (Ultrasonic Subliminal Series) Program your subconscious mind for successful calorie restriction and dieting with restricted caloric intake. Create amazing results using state-of-the-art subliminal and brainwave entrainment technologies. Tune your brainwaves to specific frequencies by listening to this CD! Program your subconscious mind for positive lasting results, created by a Certified Hypnotherapist and NLP Practitioner (Neuro-Linguistic Programming). Silent affirmations, inaudible hypnotic suggestions and thousands of powerful subliminal messages program your subconscious mind for positive results. The first 3 tracks have an ocean background. The Silent Ultrasonic Track 4 is completely silent with no sound at all! BMV exclusive Quantum Subliminal Matrix Technology sets a new standard for the subliminal industry!... |
| © 2009 BrightSurf.com |