Can Reducing Caloric Intake Also Help Reduce Cancer?
Reductions in caloric intake of 30% to 40% in rodents and non-human primates appear to greatly reduce the incidence of cancers and is the only proven method of extending lifespan. Could similar caloric reductions by humans also reduce or eliminate cancer in people? While lunching on Thai chicken pasta and a later snack of chocolate chip cookies, scientists pondered this and other questions at a recent Society of Toxicology meeting in Reston, Va., on the role of diet and caloric intake in aging, obesity, and cancer, No scientist really expects humans to reduce calorie intake by 30%. Such a reduction would mean eliminating a meal a day for the rest of their lives, but the mechanisms by which caloric restriction works and the number of beneficial effects are of great research interest. “The first study that looked at cancer and caloric restriction was done in France in 1909 and showed that tumor weight decreased with lowered food intake,” said David Kritchevsky, Ph.D., of the Wistar Insti
