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Clarence E. Grim, BS (Chem/Math), MS (Biochem), MD, FACP, FACC, FAHS

Clinical Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology

Director, Hypertension Diagnosis and Treatment Center

Board Certified in Internal Medicine, Geriatrics and Hypertension

Published over 220 scientific papers, book chapters and 220 abstracts in the area of high blood pressure epidemiology, physiology, endocrinology measurement, treatment and how to detect curable causes.

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Specializing in Difficult to Control High Blood Pressure and the History and Physiology of High Blood pressure in the African Diaspora

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Calorie restriction reduces age-related declines in diastolic function

Jan 17, 2006 Wood

Bethesda, MD - People who eat calorie-restricted, nutrient-balanced meals appear to have less age-related changes in diastolic function, a new study suggests [1]. While calorie restriction may not be appropriate or feasible for most people, the findings underscore the benefits of eating nutrient-dense foods, the authors say.

Their study, appearing in the January 17, 2006 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, assessed diastolic function in 25 subjects who voluntarily practice calorie restriction, eating approximately two thirds the number of calories per day as people eating a typical Western diet. What calories they do consume, however, are highly nutritionally balanced, with very low amounts of saturated fat, salt, and simple carbohydrates.

As lead author Dr E Meyer (Washington University, St Louis, MO) and colleagues explain in their paper, caloric restriction has been previously shown to slow aging in animals and in humans appears to reduce risk factors for atherosclerosis. The effects of long-term caloric restriction on diastolic function, however, have been unclear.

For their study, Meyer et al compared the hearts of the people who had been practicing caloric restriction (approximately 1670 calories daily) for a mean of 6.5 years, with those of age- and gender-matched controls eating a typical Western diet (roughly 2445 calories daily). They found that although no differences were seen in systolic function between the two groups, echocardiographic evaluation of diastolic function (on the basis of ratio of peak E-wave to peak A-wave, deceleration time, and transmitral flow) was significantly better in the caloric-restriction group and similar to the diastolic function typically seen in younger patients. Systemic inflammation, as measured by CRP and TNF- and TNF-, as well as blood-pressure levels, were also significantly lower in the reduced-calorie group.

Understanding aging

In an interview with heartwire, senior author Dr Luigi Fontana (Instituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy) called the findings "exciting."

"This is the first paper to strongly suggest that caloric restriction with optimal nutrition may delay primary aging in humans," Fontana commented. "To my knowledge there are no studies on the effects of diet on diastolic function in humans. There is a paper on caloric restriction in mice . . . [in which] basically they found that caloric restriction has the same effects on cardiac function as we found in humans."

In an accompanying editorial, Dr Gerstenblith (s Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, MD) congratulated the authors and "disciplined volunteers" for their contribution to this field of research [2]. According to Gerstenblith, the study highlights the role of inflammation as a potential responsible mechanism in human aging.

Study flaws, Gerstenblith wrote, include its nonrandomized design and the impossibility of determining the extent to which the improved diastolic function was related to the lower blood pressure or whether the lower CRP levels were a result of the lower body mass of the caloric-restriction group.

Still, he writes, "although the likelihood that most individuals would adopt such an intervention is small, the value of the study is that it points to possible mechanisms explaining how aging occurs and, therefore, how it may be modified."

To heartwire, Fontana acknowledged that there are very few practical clinical implications for the population at large, beyond underscoring the importance of choosing nutrient-rich foods over "empty" calories.

"Most people like to eat junk food," Fontana commented. "Only a few smart people are willing to give up empty calories—that means avoiding sugar, candies, sweets, soft drinks, foods rich in partially hydrogenated fats, white flours and bread, etc—to live healthier and possibly longer." 

His primary goal, he added, is to better understand the biological and molecular mechanisms that play a role in accelerating or delaying aging in humans.

Sources

1. Meyer TE, Kovács SJ, Ehsani AA, et al. Long-term caloric restriction ameliorates the decline in diastolic function in humans. J Am Coll Cardiol 2006; 47:398-402.

2. Gerstenblith G. Cardiovascular aging: What we can learn from caloric restriction? J Am Coll Cardiol 2006; 47:403-404.