Researchers link speed of aging and hunger
Experiments on drosophila flies have shown that life expectancy is influenced not by food composition, but by the feeling of hunger itself. The study was published in the journal Science.Researchers at the University of Michigan have shown in experiments on drosophila flies that feelings of hunger can slow down aging. This effect is similar to the effects of different diets and food-restriction technologies.
Scientists designed a series of experiments to separate the process of food intake (and its restriction in the form of various diets) from the feeling of hunger that arises in the animals' brains. The experiments showed that no matter how much food was consumed, constant hunger slowed down aging in animals.
Researchers caused hunger in flies in several ways. In the first, the researchers changed the amount of branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) in the test food they gave the flies. They were then given access to yeast or sugar. The insects that received the snack with low BCAA content consumed more yeast than sugar. This preference for yeast over sugar is one indicator of hunger.
Flies consumed more food and calories compared to the control group, but felt "hungry." And the insects that ate foods low in BCAA all their lives lived longer than those whose food was high in amino acids.
In another experiment, researchers used light to activate neurons associated with feelings of hunger. As in the previous experiment, such flies lived longer, although they consumed twice as much food.
Previous studies for both animals and humans have shown the possible benefits of different diets and dietary restriction systems on longevity. Although one cannot directly transfer the results of observing flies to humans, the authors of the study note, it appears that it is not the food consumed that influences longevity, but the feeling of hunger itself.