Eating leaner could help prolong life as we know it on the planet, by reducing the resources devoted to energy-intensive foods, like industrially produced meat.

Now a study of calorie-restriction involving monkeys suggests that eating less overall could extend our own lives, and help us age more healthfully.

The University of Wisconsin study, published in the journal Science this month, compared rhesus monkeys raised for most of their lives on diets that were substantially the same but differed in total calories. The colony of 76 monkeys was divided into two groups. One group was allowed to eat as much as they wanted during the day, while the other half was restricted to about 30 percent fewer calories. The restricted monkeys were given vitamin supplements to assure that they did not become malnourished.

Researchers watched the monkeys over 20 years, and released their findings now because many of the monkeys, whose average lifespan is 27 years (though they can live to age 40), are hitting their golden years. (See photo above of Canto, 27, on the left, who has been on the calorie-restricted diet, and Owen, 29, who ate freely.)

The 20-year study found that:

• 63 percent of the calorie restricted group is alive compared with 45 percent of those allowed to eat freely

• Five of the calorie-restricted monkeys were lost to age-related cancer and cardiovascular disease compared with 14 monkeys lost to those old-age diseases among the heavier eaters

• None of the restricted monkeys have developed diabetes

• Scans of their brains showed less deterioration in areas controlling memory, motor and executive functions.

“We have been able to show that caloric restriction can slow the aging process in a primate species,” says lead researcher Richard Weindruch, a professor of medicine in the UW-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health, in a statement. “We observed that caloric restriction reduced the risk of developing an age-related disease by a factor of three and increased survival.”

Some scientists have criticized the results as being statistically insignificant or pre-mature, but others consider the differences in the two groups to be notable, according to news articles.

The concept that calorie restriction could lead to a healthier life is rooted in mice studies from the 1930s which discovered that the shortage of food led to metabolic reaction that primed the body for survival.

Because eating less by ignoring appetite signals is extremely difficult, researchers are looking at ways to help tap into this response by using supplements or drugs.

Releases by Science and the University of Wisconsin did not address whether the confined monkeys exercised.

(Photo credit: Canto and Owen by Jeff Miller)

Copyright © 2009 Green Right Now | Distributed by Noofangle Media

There’s no doubt that community gardens, a tradition that first surfaced in the United States in the early 1900’s, are at the grassroots of today’s urban “buy local/grow local” movement. But today, in places as diverse as New York City and Madison, Wisc., community gardens are also a socio-cultural equalizer, bringing together plot farmers from all backgrounds and ethnicities.

In Madison’s historic Eagle Heights Community Garden (circa 1962) near the University of Wisconsin, if all gardeners were present on a busy spring weekend, you could hear up to 60 different languages and encounter gardening techniques from around the world. Stop by Boulder’s Growing Gardens near the Iris Gardens, where more than 1,000 gardeners are involved, and you’re liable to hear Hmong mingled with English, Spanish and various other languages. And there’s no point in trying to estimate how many float on the breezes above New York City’s 1000+ community gardens.

Across the United States, community gardens are attracting people accustomed to providing some of their own sustenance; retirees who finally have time for gardening, church members providing for the low-income and young urbanites seeking a closer connection to their food. Many gardens have waiting lists, as people seek a way to reconnect with what they eat.

“People want to grow their own organic food and know where it comes from,” says Bill Maynard, vice president of the American Community Gardening Association and the coordinator of Sacramento’s five city-owned community gardens.

What’s more, they enjoy the social aspect of gardening alongside others who might come from different backgrounds, but share this common interest. “They don’t know each other, but now they’re friends,” says Maynard.

“We have legislative aides who come down from the Capitol and water (their plot) in their suits. We have retired people. We have families. And we have ADA accessible beds, raised beds” set aside for people with disabilities, and people from Asian cultures with the know-how to farm acres, he said. All turn up at the city’s gardens, particularly the city’s oldest and recently renovated Fremont Community Garden in the urban center, which is being transformed into a neatly arrayed city-operated garden and gathering spot.

There is no perfect way to gauge the current upswing in community gardening in the United States because the majority of gardens are not officially registered with the ACGA. It’s, shall we say, an organic movement? But organizers in several locales report robust participation. Madison’s 31 community gardens have grown by about 50 percent in the past five years, adding more than 500 participants, according to the Madison area’s Community Action Coalition that helps low-income residents with their plots. Sacramento reports waiting lists for its community gardens; Maynard says he could easily fill two new gardens in design phase.