Non-CR life extension through amino acid restriction

[Guest guest]

The following paper says that reducing the amounts of tryptophan and

methionine, and eliminating cysteine from the diet extends maximum

life span without caloric restriction.

Tony

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Exp Gerontol. 2003 Jan-Feb;38(1-2):47-52. Related Articles, Links

Nutritional control of aging.

Zimmerman JA, Malloy V, Krajcik R, Orentreich N.

Orentreich Foundation for the Advancement of Science Inc., Cold

Spring-on-Hudson, NY, USA. zimmermj@...

For more than 60 years the only dietary manipulation known to

retard aging was caloric restriction, in which a variety of species

respond to a reduction in energy intake by demonstrating extended

median and maximum life span. More recently, two alternative dietary

manipulations have been reported to also extend survival in rodents.

Reducing the tryptophan content of the diet extends maximum life span,

while lowering the content of sulfhydryl-containing amino acids in the

diet by removing cysteine and restricting the concentration of

methionine has been shown to extend all parameters of survival, and to

maintain blood levels of the important anti-oxidant glutathione. To

control for the possible reduction in energy intake in

methionine-restricted rats, animals were offered the control diet in

the quantity consumed by rats fed the low methionine diet. Such

pair-fed animals experienced life span extension, indicating that

methionine restriction-related life span extension is not a

consequence of reduced energy intake. By feeding the methionine

restricted diet to a variety of rat strains we determined that lowered

methionine in the diet prolonged life in strains that have differing

pathological profiles in aging, indicating that this intervention acts

by altering the rate of aging, not by correcting some single defect in

a single strain.

[Guest guest]

Which foods contain these amino acids?

Tryptophan is in milk and is supposed to raise seratonin, the " feel good "

hormone (and I'll take all the seratonin I can get). Also milk and dairy

products we recently concluded here were associated with more/better weight

loss (such as around the mid-section). So I'm either misunderstanding or

there's a bit of a contradiction here.

on 6/29/2004 1:14 AM, citpeks at citpeks@... wrote:

> The following paper says that reducing the amounts of tryptophan and

> methionine, and eliminating cysteine from the diet extends maximum

> life span without caloric restriction.

>

> Tony

>

[Guest guest]

Hi Francesca:

No necessarily a contradiction. It could be saying that you live

longer while feeling awful and having a lot more fat around your mid-

section ; ^ )))

One source says:

Tryptophan: Bananas, dates, milk, meat, fish, turkey, peanuts.

Methionine: Beans, eggs, fish, garlic, lentils, meat, onions,

soybeans, seeds, yogurt.

Cysteine: Poultry, wheat, broccoli, brussels sprouts, eggs, garlic,

onions, red peppers.

Not much else left to eat?

Rodney.

> Which foods contain these amino acids?

>

> Tryptophan is in milk and is supposed to raise seratonin,

the " feel good "

> hormone (and I'll take all the seratonin I can get). Also milk and

dairy

> products we recently concluded here were associated with

more/better weight

> loss (such as around the mid-section). So I'm either

misunderstanding or

> there's a bit of a contradiction here.