It’s a dismaying thought during a holiday season full of cookies and big meals, but severely restricting calories consumed is one of the best supported strategies for a healthier, longer life. Slicing food consumption stretches the lives of animals in lab experiments, and similar deprivation seems to improve health in people, although almost no one can sustain such a calorie-depleted diet for long. Now, researchers in China studying animals on lean rations have identified a molecule made by gut bacteria that delivers some of the same benefits. When given on its own, the molecule makes flies and worms live longer and refurbishes age-weakened muscles in mice, all without leaving the animals hungry.
Although the molecule’s effects in people remain unclear, the discovery is “a really important step forward,” says gerontologist Richard Miller of the University of Michigan, who wasn’t connected to the research.
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