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Eating less would lead to a longer life

Scientists from the CNRS and the Natural History Museum have recently demonstrated that the life expectancy of people who eat "parsimony" without excess, is longer than that of others. To reach this conclusion, they carried out tests on mouse lemurs, the smallest species of lemurs. Equipped with large eyes, these weigh only a hundred grams and measure twelve centimeters (not counting its tail).

The researchers therefore divided the lemurs into two groups and for nearly 10 years, some ate less than others, seeing their meals reduced by a third.

A life expectancy increased by almost 50%

This study was carried out in continuation of another, dating from 1930. At the time, a scientist had done tests on mice, and had shown that by reducing their food intake, they lived longer. The next logical step was therefore to test this on primates, distant cousins ​​of man. The results are also identical, we observe the same phenomenon with delayed aging and a life expectancy increased by almost 50%.

“At the end of the study, all the control animals died a beautiful death, of old age, but the restricted animals remained in a state of youth much longer and they lived longer than the others. explains Fabienne Aujard, researcher at the CNRS, who took part in this long study, the results of which have been published in the scientific journal Communications Biology. She admits, the "biological" link between calorie restriction and longevity is not yet well defined by scientists, but in any case, the results are promising.