PACIFIC HEALTH RESEARCH INSTITUTE/KUAKINI MEDICAL CENTER RELEASES FIRST EVER LONG-TERM HUMAN STUDY SHOWING LINK BETWEEN DECREASED CALORIE INTAKE AND LONGEVITY
On August 31, 2004, a groundbreaking scientific article by Dr. Bradley Willcox and colleagues at Pacific Health Research Institute and Kuakini Medical Center, titled "How Much Should We Eat: The Association Between Energy Intake and Mortality in a 36-Year Follow-Up Study of Japanese American Men" will appear in the Journal of Gerontology: Biological Sciences--the highest impact factor journal in aging research. This is the first prospective study to show that a reduced calorie diet in humans may lead to a longer life. This study utilized data from the Honolulu Heart Program, a 36-year prospective study of middle-aged men conducted at Kuakini Medical Center, and was funded by the US National Institutes of Health-Heart, Lung and Blood Institute and Aging Institute, and the American Heart Association (Hawaii). The study found that risk for death (all-cause mortality) was lower in men who ate fewer calories, was most pronounced at about 1,900 calories per day or about 15% fewer calories than the group average. The lower risk for death persisted until participants ate about 50% fewer calories than the group average.
These findings coincide with what has been seen in hundreds of previous animal studies, and in cross-sectional studies of Okinawans, who have been reported to eat fewer calories and have among the world's longest survival. Until now this had never been replicated in a longitudinal human study due to insufficient numbers of study participants, the long study time required to uncover this relationship and lack of precise dietary and other risk factor information on study subjects.
Dr. David Curb, President/CEO of PHRI, Professor and Director of Geriatrics Research and the Division of Clinical Epidemiology, John A. Burns School of Medicine, University of Hawaii, Principal Investigator, Kuakini Honolulu Heart Program comments, "The results of Dr. Willcox's fascinating study come at a time when there is much confusion among the general public regarding the optimum diet and its association with healthy aging. Dr. Willcox's work represents a significant step in confirming what many scientists had suspected-that eating fewer calories may be linked to human longevity--and affirms PHRI's commitment to promoting the health of Americans through evidence-based high impact research on healthy aging."
Given the current obesity epidemic in the U.S. and the growing concern about healthy dieting, the findings of this study are particularly relevant. A host of trendy diets propose quick solutions to weight loss by eating certain types of foods while refraining from others--particularly carbohydrates. The study by Dr. Willcox and colleagues suggests that reduced caloric intake may have a greater impact on promoting longevity than other dietary factors since the relationship was apparent despite controlling statistically for differences in carbohydrate, fat or protein intake, physical activity, obesity and numerous other factors. Dr. Willcox states: "One of the reasons the low carbohydrate approach has helped some people lose weight is because it is really just a means of eating fewer calories".
Dr. Willcox's research on caloric density (number of calories per gram of food) which appears in his recently released book, The Okinawa Diet Plan, suggests that both low fat and low carbohydrate diets are different paths to eating fewer calories. When consumed in excess, both fat and carbohydrates lead to deleterious health consequences. Higher insulin levels and other body-fat related hormones might mediate some of this. Dr. Willcox and his team are also studying how to help people lose weight and maintain this loss through on-line diet support programs and hope to compare low carbohydrate, low fat, and other approaches through a potential NIH-funded study.
Dr. Bradley Willcox is a nationally recognized expert on healthy aging, formerly of Harvard Medical School and currently a Clinician-Investigator at Pacific Health Research Institute, and Clinical Assistant Professor, University of Hawaii where he conducts research funded by the National Institute on Aging. He is also Co-Principal Investigator of the Okinawa Centenarian Study and along with Doctors Craig Willcox and Makoto Suzuki, co-authored The New York Times bestseller The Okinawa Program (Clarkson-Potter/Publishers, 2001) and recently published a prescriptive book on their latest research on low calorie diets and healthy weight called The Okinawa Diet Plan: Get Leaner, Live Longer and Never Feel Hungry (Clarkson-Potter/Publishers, 2004). For more information, please visit: http://www.okicent.org
Pacific Health Research Institute is a public, non-profit organization created in 1960 to conduct collaborative, multi-institutional health research designed to enhance the well being of individuals and communities in Hawaii, the Pacific, and throughout the world.
