Scientists at Monash University have identified a less stringent and more manageable alternative to traditional intermittent fasting, offering new possibilities for promoting healthy aging.
This new approach, which involves short-term isoleucine restriction, has shown significant results in Drosophila, opening up new avenues for understanding the impact of diet on longevity and health maintenance.
The study, published in Geroscience, found that intermittent, short-term intake of the essential amino acid isoleucine in the diet significantly improved the stress resistance of fruit flies and prolonged lifespan.
Fulton, lead study author and PhD candidate in Monash University's School of Biological Sciences, said: "Unlike traditional intermittent fasting, this approach does not require a significant reduction in overall food intake, which is a more practical and feasible strategy. ”
"Our study not only expands our understanding of the impact of diet on longevity, but has the potential to revolutionize the way we approach diet and longevity," he said. ”
Previous studies have shown that moderate restriction of all dietary amino acids can enhance resilience to stress, but in order to prolong life, this requires long-term adherence into adulthood.
The research team recently found that short-term restriction of an essential amino acid can boost toxin resistance in young adult flies, but we know nothing about its efficacy in older flies or how this diet may affect long-term health.
"We don't yet know if restricting an amino acid for a short period of time will also extend lifespan, and if so, when and for how long the restriction will need to be implemented," said Taria, a member of the PiperLab research team. ”
To investigate this, the team first evaluated whether nicotine tolerance can be acquired in flies through transient isoleucine deficiency during aging.
They raise flies on a nutritionally complete synthetic diet for one, two, three, or five weeks (an average lifespan of about nine weeks), then transfer them to an isoleucine-deficient diet for one, three, five, or seven days, and then measure their survival when exposed to deadly toxins.
Using these data to select the regimen that would provide the best toxin protection, the authors found that one week of isoleucine restriction in the middle (three weeks) and later (five weeks) of the flies significantly increased their lifespan, regardless of their diet early and late in life.
"This discovery challenges the existing notion of changing the rigidity of diets for longevity and health benefits," Talia said. ”
The less severe isoleucine restriction method mimics the benefits of the broader dietary restriction found in traditional fasting methods.
"This study not only deepens our understanding of the impact of the Drosophila diet on longevity, but also proposes a new, less invasive avenue for the study of aging in other species," Talia said. Identifying specific amino acid restriction as a viable alternative to intermittent fasting opens the door to more targeted research into the mechanisms behind dietary interventions. ”。