Understanding caloric restriction and lifespan is more complex than we thought. Could losing less weight on a diet actually be the secret to a longer life?
- Dec 11, 2025
- 3 min read
Updated: Jan 8
This Article Is Available In
We’ve all heard the advice. Eat less live longer. For decades scientists have nodded along agreeing that cutting back on food or fasting intermittently seems to be the ticket to a lengthier existence. It's the simple (though not easy) fountain of youth. But what if that's only half the story? A massive new study just threw a fascinating wrench into our understanding of diet and aging and the results are not what anyone expected.
Researchers decided to really put this idea to the test. They observed nearly a thousand genetically diverse individuals (in this case, mice, but basically tiny, furry proxies for us) over their entire lives. They split them into groups. Some ate whenever they wanted. Others tried intermittent fasting. And some had their daily calories seriously slashed. The goal was to finally figure out why these diets work and what caloric restriction and lifespan really have to do with each other.
As expected the calorie-cutters lived the longest. No surprise there. But this is where it gets weird. When scientists looked at which individuals in that restricted group lived the longest they found something baffling. It wasn’t the ones who shed the most weight or had the best metabolic numbers. In fact it was the complete opposite. The animals that lived the longest were the ones that...
