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Molecular Biology of Aging pp 105–116Cite as

State of Knowledge on Action of Food Restriction and Aging

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Part of the book series: Basic Life Sciences ((BLSC,volume 35))

Abstract

Approximately 50 years have passed since McCay and Crowsll (1934) published their findings that restriction of the amount of food consumed by rats resulted in some individuals reaching an extremely old age and a population of rats with a greater mean age at death than was the case for rats fed ad libitum. This finding has often been repeated in mice and rats as well as in lower vertebrates and invertebrates (Barrows and Kokkonen, 1977). Although McCay and Crowell (1934) used severe food restriction which markedly slowed skeletal growth and delayed sexual maturation, Berg and Simms (1960) subsequently showed that moderate levels of restriction, not markedly influencing skeletal growth or sexual maturation, were also effective. However, severe restriction increases life span more than moderate restriction (Masoro, 1984b). Of all experimental manipulations so far studied, food restriction is by far the most effective in extending the life span of mammalian species (Sacher, 1977).

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physiology, University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio, Texas, 78284, USA

    Edward Masoro

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  1. Edward Masoro
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York, USA

    Avril D. Woodhead

  2. University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology, Manchester, UK

    Anthony D. Blackett

  3. Council for Research Planning in Biological Sciences, Inc., Washington, DC, USA

    Alexander Hollaender

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© 1985 Springer Science+Business Media New York

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Masoro, E. (1985). State of Knowledge on Action of Food Restriction and Aging. In: Woodhead, A.D., Blackett, A.D., Hollaender, A. (eds) Molecular Biology of Aging. Basic Life Sciences, vol 35. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-2218-2_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-2218-2_5

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4899-2220-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4899-2218-2

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