By cwalters October 4, 2007

German researchers have found that a glucose-restricted diet increases the number of free radicals in mice and worms, and extended their lifespans by up to 25%. The free radicals trigger the natural defense systems in the creatures, which in turn strengthen long-term cellular protection against the damaging molecules. So go ahead: smoke and curse all you want, and throw out that death-giving orange juice. [Reuters]

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Comments

  1. Trai_Dep says:
    October 4, 2007 at 5:12 am

    Holy Bizzarro world!

    Today, coffee & cigarettes, to extend my life 20 years.

    Tomorrow, I’m shopping for smack, crack and crystal meth. I’ll be (bwah-ha-ha-haaaa) i-m-m-o-r-t-a-l!

  2. Mr. Gunn says:
    October 4, 2007 at 12:08 pm

    This is why we have peer-review in science. If you see a bunch of stuff come out about this in 6 months to a year, good. It might be somewhat accurate. As it is, I find it really hard to believe, and I wonder if the treatment they used to simulate caloric restriction isn’t actually having some kind of unexpected anti-oxidant effect.

  3. Steel_Pelican says:
    October 4, 2007 at 1:10 pm

    Who the hell wants to live an extra 25% longer anyway? Those years from 80-100 are just awesome, I’m sure.

  4. B says:
    October 4, 2007 at 2:12 pm

    @Steel_Pelican: They would be if we could smoke and drink through them.

  5. geeniusatwrok says:
    October 4, 2007 at 4:29 pm

    yay! I’m vindicated!

  6. Charles Duffy says:
    October 4, 2007 at 4:38 pm

    @Mr. Gunn: This isn’t the first time I’ve seen a study showing a calorie-restricted diet to significantly extend lifespan.

  7. infinitysnake says:
    October 4, 2007 at 5:45 pm

    @Steel_Pelican: If you’re healthy, why not?

  8. Rectilinear Propagation says:
    October 4, 2007 at 7:31 pm

    I wonder if the treatment they used to simulate caloric restriction isn’t actually having some kind of unexpected anti-oxidant effect.

    @Mr. Gunn: Well it was glucose not calories but according to the study it did.

    Restricting glucose first spurred the worms to generate more free radicals, but then they quickly built up long-lasting defenses against them, said Michael Ristow, an endocrinologist at the University of Jena and the German Institute of Human Nutrition, who led the study.

    “During the process, the worm generates more free radicals, which activates defenses against free radicals within the worm,” he said in a telephone interview. “The bad thing in the end promotes something good.”

    I think history has shown that this generally doesn’t work when it comes to smoking.

  9. Rectilinear Propagation says:
    October 4, 2007 at 7:32 pm

    @Rectilinear Propagation: Mr. Gunn can ignore what I just said since I obviously misunderstood his comment.

  10. ChristineS says:
    November 5, 2007 at 2:21 pm

    We get some free radicals from air pollution, radiation, dietary fats and other sources every day. However, we are not getting healthier this way.