insulin and longevity

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Low Insulin Not Calorie Restriction Lengthens Your Life

A lean body devoid of fat may be more significant in determining lifespan

than a calorie-restricted diet, according to a new study of genetically

altered mice.

The mice in the study were able to eat whatever they wanted and still stay

slim because their fat tissue had been altered so it could not respond to the

hormone insulin. Insulin helps to move sugar from the blood into the body’s

cells and also helps fat cells to store fat.

Researchers altered the insulin receptor gene in the fat cells of lab mice,

and since insulin is needed to help cells store fat the mice had less fat and

were protected against obesity.

The altered mice ate 55 percent more food per gram of body weight than

normal mice, yet had 70 percent less body fat by the time they reached 3

months of age.

Moreover, the altered mice lived 18 percent longer than normal mice, and

after three years all of the normal mice had died, but one-quarter of the

altered mice were still alive.

Previous studies have shown that a calorie-restricted diet can extend the

lifespan of everything from yeast to mammals. One theory for why this occurs

is that eating less produces fewer chemical by-products, known as free

radicals, which can damage cells. However, the current study suggests that

leanness may also play a role in promoting longevity.

The findings could open the possibility of a new drug that would fight

obesity, and related illnesses like type 2 diabetes, by blocking insulin

receptors in fat tissue. The drug would need to be targeted to fat only,

however, as a loss of insulin sensitivity through out the body results in

type 2 diabetes, researchers noted.

<A

HREF= " http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve & amp;db=PubMed & a\

mp;list_uids=12543978 & amp;dopt=Abstract " > Science</A> January 24,

2003;299:572-574

DR. MERCOLA'S COMMENT:

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s%20article%20was%20recommended%20to%20you%20by%20a%20friend:%20http://mercola.c\

om/2003/feb/8/longevity.htm.%20It%20is%20from%20http://www.mercola.com%20which%2\

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It appears that leanness, not food restriction, is a key contributor to a

long life. The elegant study from Harvard published in a prestigious science

journal, Science, confirms that insulin is the major mechanism through which

this result is mediated.

Most health care practitioners are not aware of the profound influence that

insulin has on health. Many basic science researchers, however, realize this

and that is why you will see more and more studies like the one above. A firm

appreciation of insulin’s role in health is one of the most important things

you can do to normalize your health on a physical plane.

Even with<A HREF= " http://mercola.com/2002/dec/18/metabolic_typing.htm " >

Metabolic Typing</A>, regardless of your metabolic type, you need to

honor this principle. So if you have clinical signs of high insulin levels,

such as:

• Elevated Weight

• High Blood Pressure

• Elevated Cholesterol

• Diabetes

• High Fasting Serum Insulin Levels (above 5)

Then it would be wise to consider avoiding all grains and sugars until those

problems normalize. If one is a " carb " Metabolic Type, it is highly likely

that grains can be introduced into the diet at a later date, in a limited

quantity. To help in this process of avoiding grains, try my<A

HREF= " http://mercola.com/forms/cookbook.htm " > No-Grain

Cookbook</A> with 200 tasty recipes that will start you on the path to wellness.

If you have not read Dr. Rosedale’s insulin article below, I would strongly

recommend doing so. Dr. Rosedale is the physician who helped me appreciate

the importance of insulin in 1996. I have had many patients share with me how

helpful his article was in understanding insulin.