Dietary restrictions during pregnancy: dangerous foods. Healthy habits. Food prohibitions and restrictions

canned food in baby food.

Separate cooking in the family at home for children from 1 to 3 years old is a rather laborious process, it takes additional time for the mother. Therefore, in the 2-3rd year of life, in order to preserve the biological value, chemical and sanitary safety of food, it is recommended to use canned food for children from 1 to 3 years old. These products are available in sufficient quantities in stores in Moscow. These products, in addition to dry milk drinks, include dry instant or quick-cooked cereals, canned meat and fish and vegetables, vegetables, fruits and berries.

However, in most families in the 2nd year of life, a gradual transition to home-cooked food is carried out - the “family table”. Children from the family table are given vermicelli, pilaf, fresh vegetables pieces and crushed boiled vegetables as a side dish, minced meat in the form of meatballs, meatballs, fish, milk porridge. Products should be chopped and pureed, as parents should not forget about the peculiarities of cooking for children from 1 to 3 years old. Children are not recommended products containing obligate allergens, essential oils, canned snacks, fatty varieties beef, smoked sausages, chocolate, some spices (black pepper, horseradish, mustard). Given the immaturity of the immune system, digestive organs and chewing apparatus, children need special culinary processing of products and dishes, which includes the exclusion of frying products, ensuring mechanical sparing (cooking meat and poultry in the form of chopped, not lumpy products), boiling and chopping vegetables, and the widespread use of various types of puddings and casseroles. Children of this age, especially in the 2nd year, should not be given dishes prepared the day before.

Dietary restrictions

It is not advisable to use artificial sweeteners and sweeteners (saccharin, aspartame, sorbate, xylitol, etc.).

As part of the food products from which the diet of children is formed, the use of food additives. When preparing food dishes, food raw materials made with the use of feed additives, animal growth stimulants (including hormonal and hormone-like substances), certain types medicines(antibiotics), pesticides, agrochemicals and other substances and compounds hazardous to human health. These substances should not be contained in food products in quantities exceeding the standards provided for by SanPiN 2.3.2.1078-01 for products baby food.

In baby food products, the use of chemical preservatives is excluded: benzoic acid and its salts, sorbic acid and its salts, boric acid, hydrogen peroxide, sulfurous acid and its salts, sodium metabisulfite, sulfurous anhydrite, etc.

As dyes in the composition of food products used in the nutrition of children and adolescents, it is preferable to use only natural dyes obtained from vegetables, fruits, berries (beets, grapes, paprika and other types of plant materials).

In the production of culinary products for children, it is not advisable to use synthetic flavors, with the exception of vanillin.

In children's products, the content of food acids is limited - in terms of pH of the product - at least 3.3; in terms of the total content of food acids - no more than 23 g / l (in terms of citric acid). The total acidity of canned fruits and vegetables, juices, drinks should be limited to 0.8%. The acidity of fermented milk products is within 100ºT, and cottage cheese and curd products - within 150ºT. As food acids (acidity regulators) it is not recommended to use acetic, phosphoric, orthophosphoric, tartaric, synthetic malic and lactic acids.

It is not recommended to use in the diet of children and adolescents spicy ketchup-type sauces, canned snacks and pickled vegetables and fruits (canned with vinegar), bone broths, including food preservatives based on them, food preservatives based on artificial flavors.

Flavor enhancers (monosodium glutamate, etc.) should not be used in food products for children.

As disintegrants should only be used baking soda(sodium bicarbonate). Use of other baking powder is not recommended.

Salted fish, as well as pickles (not containing vinegar), can be used in the diet of children and adolescents in limited quantities. Children can only be given lightly salted fish.

In organized children's groups, you should not use:

Raw-smoked meat gastronomic products and sausages;

Fried foods, products (patties, donuts, potatoes, etc.);

Vinegar, mustard, horseradish, hot peppers (red, black) and other hot seasonings;

Natural coffee, as well as products containing caffeine, other stimulants, alcohol.

Diets today will not surprise anyone. Almost everyone loses weight different reasons. At the same time, few take into account the fact that a radical change in diet can seriously undermine health and even lead to lethal outcome. About what diets should be avoided - in the material AiF.ru.

calories below level

One of the popular weight loss options today are low-calorie diets. It seems that it is enough to switch to the most lightweight food options, to give up those foods that contain fats and carbohydrates, and the body will immediately begin to transform into better side. As a rule, such diets involve reducing the calories consumed per day to 1000, which in fact is an extremely low figure. Adherents of this weight loss option are sure that in this case the body will begin to expend the energy that it has accumulated in body fat. Thus, the process of losing weight should be started. And the first time the results really appear. However, then the body adapts to new conditions, rebuilds, and the effect is completely opposite.

Doctors call the lack of useful microelements and vitamins the most dangerous in such diets, which causes the development of vitamin deficiencies, manifested in brittle nails and hair, their dull color, mood changes, as well as anemia and other negative conditions. In addition, it should be understood that weight fluctuations back and forth cause the development of cardiovascular problems.

One of a kind

Today, mono-diets are practiced quite often. However, they are confused with fasting days. The latter last a maximum of 3 days and do no harm to the body. If you practice eating one product for longer, then negative reactions won't be slow to show up. After all, monovariants are an imbalance. All three do not enter the body necessary element(fats, proteins and carbohydrates), and there is a bias towards one. So, for example, when choosing banana, oat or buckwheat diets, a person deprives himself of the protein necessary for building muscles, leaving only carbohydrates.

At the same time, such nutrition systems are low in calories, which leads to the accumulation of a deficiency of vitamins and fats and to metabolic disorders. At the end of this option of losing weight, the body, as in the first case, will quickly pick up the lost again. To have some tangible effect, it is necessary to combine a mono-diet with physical activity, different kind activity and vitamin therapy. Otherwise, everything can turn into diseases. And it is also worthwhile to understand that individual products in excess can have a negative impact on certain organs. So, cottage cheese is bad for the kidneys, carrots for the liver, chocolate for endocrine system. Such diets are especially dangerous for people with chronic diseases.

Diet contains protein

Today's newfangled diets based on the use of proteins alone show very nice results. A person loses weight literally before our eyes, while eating quite varied and interesting. However, few people think when choosing such a power system that it is fraught with consequences.

First of all, excessive consumption of proteins negatively affects the condition of the human kidneys. Such a battery makes them work literally for wear and tear. A large number of protein causes acidification of urine and increased excretion of salts. This leads to the formation of stones, which then, moving along the ureter, can lead to serious violations health. Also, against the background of an excess of proteins, a pathological change in the process of transporting all the nutrients that are required for the functioning of the kidneys can develop. And stones can form even with a normal diet.

Another problem with this kind of diet is an increase in blood cholesterol levels. As a result, the risk of developing cardiovascular diseases, including heart attack and stroke, increases. According to scientists, the probability becomes higher by 28%. And an increase in cholesterol in the blood causes the formation of stones in the gallbladder.

Protein diets also negatively affect the functioning of the intestines. Due to the lack of fiber, failures begin, food is poorly digested, and hemorrhoids may worsen. As the situation develops, a person's appetite decreases, bad smell mouth and nausea. In addition, against the background of maintaining this kind of nutrition system, dehydration is also noted, which becomes additional stress for the body and leads to hormonal imbalance.

Proper nutrition is the basis of human health. It is the food that we take that ensures the development and constant renewal of the cells and tissues of the body, is a source of energy that our body spends not only when physical activity but also at rest.
Food - sources of substances from which enzymes, hormones and other regulators are synthesized metabolic processes. The metabolism that underlies life human body, is directly dependent on the nature of the diet.
The composition of food, its properties and quantity determine growth and physical development, ability to work, morbidity, neuropsychic state, life expectancy.
With food, our body must receive a sufficient amount
essential substances: proteins, fats, carbohydrates, vitamins,
microelements, minerals... Sufficient, but not excessive. And in the right proportions.
Strictly speaking, all theories of rational nutrition, which in recent times appearing like mushrooms after the rain trying to solve this problem.
Over the past decades, there has been a lot of evidence that a low-calorie diet not only ensures a good figure, but also contributes to the healthy functioning of all life systems organism and most importantly, prolongs life. There are several explanations for the mechanism of life extension due to caloric restriction of food. Below are considered in detail the main mechanisms that are included in the body upon admission limited quantity calories.

However, doctors warn that it is important to choose the right
a diet rich nutrients rather than eating just one dessert or sandwich a day.

In addition, caloric restriction leads to a significant decrease in liver lipids, but this is not accompanied by an improvement in markers of liver function, signs of inflammation, and plasma lipid levels.

Enette Larson-Meyer (University of Wyoming, USA) et al. analyzed the relationship between liver lipid levels, inflammatory markers, liver function, and plasma lipid profile in 46 men and women with overweight bodies participating in the randomized CALERIE study.
The study participants were divided into 4 groups for 6 months:
1. reduction of caloric content of food by 25%,
2. 12.5% ​​reduction in calorie content of food plus an increase in energy costs due to increased exercise by 12.5%,
3. A low-calorie diet leading to a 15% reduction in body weight and a control group that followed the principles of a healthy diet without calorie restriction.

Determination of lipid content in the liver was carried out by methods
magnetic resonance spectroscopy and computed tomography.
After 6 months of follow-up, liver lipids decreased in all 3 calorie restriction groups. However, it was not accompanied by significant changes in alanine aminotransferase levels, inflammatory markers, or lipid profile. Since these studies were conducted for only 6 months, it is difficult to judge the life expectancy of people who took part in the experiments. However, this work has shown that 6 months is enough to significantly reduce the level of fatty liver. In addition, immunoresistance general well-being and vitality subjects was higher than that of the control group.
Another confirmation was received by the hypothesis according to which a sharp
caloric restriction serves as a means of preventing prostate cancer. Doctors from Johns Hopkins University found that
middle-aged and elderly men whose daily ration does not exceed 1200 calories, get prostate cancer three to four times less than their peers who consume more 2600 calories. This information is contained in an article in the journal Urology.
Also, it was noticed that calorie starvation leads to a decrease in the activity of the hormone. thyroid gland- triiodothyronine T3, which prevents tissue aging and dysfunction
metabolism.

Restriction of calorie content of food can slow down the aging process of the body.

In the 1930s, McCay's work established [McCay ea 1935] that a calorie-restricted diet increased by 30-50% the maximum and average duration life of rats and mice. In recent years, this model, due to its simplicity and stable reproducibility, has become one of the leading models in the study of the fundamental mechanisms of aging and increase in life expectancy, although not all age-related biochemical, physiological, and behavioral parameters slow down [Weindruch ea 1997, Weindruch ea 1988].
Caloric restriction also increased lifespan in fish, amphibians, daphnia, insects, and others. invertebrates. Three large studies in primates (mainly rhesus monkeys) provide the first evidence that at least some of the physiological effects of a calorie-restricted diet seen in rodents are replicated in monkeys [Cefalu ea 1997, DeLany ea 1999, Lane ea 1998]. Among these effects are a decrease in blood glucose and insulin levels, a decrease in body temperature, and a decrease in energy costs.
It was found that it is the overall reduction in calorie intake, and not any food ingredient, that determines the geroprotective effect of fasting.[Weindruch ea 1997]. It is estimated that 80-90% of the approximately 300 parameters studied in calorie-restricted rodents, including behavior and learning, immune response, gene expression, enzyme activity and hormone action, glucose tolerance, DNA repair efficiency, speed protein synthesis, were characterized by features of delayed aging [Weindruch ea 1997, Weindruch ea 1988, Yu ea 1994].

It is important to emphasize that such a diet stimulates apoptosis, which eliminates preneoplastic cells in body tissues. [ Grasl-Kraupp ea 1994 , Muskhelishvili ea 1996 ], slows down the accumulation of mutations in them [Dempsey ea 1993] as well as the development of age-related pathology, including the occurrence of neoplasms [Weindruch ea 1988, Yu ea 1994].

It is assumed that in the mechanisms of increasing life expectancy with calorie restriction, the main role is played by factors such as growth retardation, a decrease in body fat, a slowdown in neuroendocrine or immunological age-related changes, an increase in DNA repair, a decrease in the rate of protein biosynthesis and gene expression, and a decrease in body temperature. and basal metabolism, reducing oxidative stress. Some of them
factors seem to be of lesser importance compared to others.
Thus, since dietary caloric restriction initiated at 12 months of age also increases maximum lifespan [Weindruch ea 1997], it is clear that slowing growth rate is not essential for life extension. The importance of the role of fat reduction in the body is also very relative, since its relationship with maximum duration life in rodents kept
when eating without restriction, it is not obvious, and with limited nutrition -
is directly proportional [Weindruch ea 1997, Weindruch ea 1988]. Quite conflicting data regarding the role of speed reduction metabolic processes with limited calorie intake.
Perhaps the most significant effect calorie-restricted diet is a decrease in intensity. In rodents kept on such a diet, there is a slowdown in the age-related increase in the rate of generation of superoxide and H2O2, a decrease in oxidative damage, and a slowdown in the age-related decrease in membrane viscosity.

Activity of antioxidant defense enzymes in various tissues
changes not so uniformly, however, fasting reduces the sensitivity of tissues in vitro to acute oxidative stress
[SohalR.S., ea 1996]. The greatest protective effect of caloric restriction against oxidative stress is seen in post-mitotic cells of the brain, heart, and skeletal muscle. With caloric restriction of the diet, there is no age-related decrease in the function of the pineal gland [Stokkan ea 1991], the hormones of which play an important role in the antioxidant defense system of the body and have a distinct geroprotective effect.
It should be noted that with some pharmacological agents, in particular antidiabetic biguanides (phenformin, buformin), which increase tissue sensitivity to insulin, improve carbohydrate tolerance, lower lipid levels and eliminate the phenomena of metabolic immunosuppression, it is also possible to increase the lifespan of mice and rats and reduce their incidence of spontaneous neoplasms [Frolkis ea 1992 , Anisimov ea 1987 , Anisimov ea 1998 ].

Animal experiments

So, a low-calorie diet has a number of benefits - it increases insulin sensitivity, increases resistance to stress, reduces morbidity and increases life expectancy. However, in order for these positive effects of fasting to appear, a sufficiently long period of time is required. Experiments on mice that fasted every other day showed that similar results can be achieved in this way. In addition, fasting every other day has the ability to increase the resistance of the brain tissue of mice to toxic effects.

The turn has come for experiments on the closest relatives
person. The scientists observed 42 monkeys aged 19 to 23 years (corresponding to 60-70 years of human age). Fourteen monkeys received a low-calorie diet for 10 years. All other monkeys were eating normally. Scientists have focused their attention on the state immune system, or rather T-lymphocytes. established,
that the T-lymphocytes of the monkeys on the Spartan diet changed less with age than those of their free-fed peers. Scientists believe that the good functioning of T-lymphocytes provides good resistance to infections and prolongs the life span.

There is, however, other evidence that indicates that calorie restriction is only beneficial. fat people but not skinny.

Recently, the theory that calorie restriction prolongs
the life of rats overweight is gaining popularity, but the authors
A new study believes that it only brings harm to individuals with normal weight.
“Today we are seeing more and more completely healthy people who look like skeletons,” says Raj Sohal from the University of Southern California's School of Pharmacy. Together with Michael Foster (Michael Forster) from the University of North Texas Health Science Center, he analyzed the lifespan and caloric intake of two genetically modified mice. A species prone to corpulence, known as C57BL/6, upon reaching middle age almost doubled his weight. Saul agrees that such individuals can benefit from calorie restriction. However, the lean species - DBA/2 - did not gain weight.
Calorie restriction did not prolong the life of individuals of this species, which
Saul and Foster argued in their previous studies.

“Our work challenges the paradigm that constraint
calorie intake is universally beneficial, Saul says. – Contrary to
According to the increasingly widespread opinion, it not only does not prolong the life of mice, but also reduces its duration.

By measuring the metabolic rate of mice, Saul and colleagues came up with
simple conclusion: calorie restriction is only beneficial for overweight mice. They consume more energy than they burn. “Energy costs and energy consumption must be balanced. How to know about it? See if you're losing weight or gaining?

Saul is strongly against normal calorie restriction by humans
weight. In 2003, he and Foster reported that calorie restriction in both DBA and C57 mice actually only shortened their lives. However, Saul recommends reducing caloric intake rather than excess amount physical exercise. In other words, it is better to give up a hamburger than torturing yourself on a treadmill after it.

The role of mitochondria

Another mechanism has been discovered that explains why a low-calorie diet increases life expectancy : when the energy entering the cell is limited, sirtuins are activated in mitochondria - proteins that slow down aging, and the synthesis of NAD + molecules, which are necessary in most cellular processes, increases.
Scientists from Harvard Medical School, Medical College
Cornell University and the US National Institutes of Health found that when a cell is stressed,
associated with calorie restriction, certain genes optimize
body functioning in order to survive thus counteracting aging.
For example, the lifespan of mitochondria, which are responsible for longevity
cells, depends on the SIRT1 genes, as well as recently discovered by scientists
David Sinclair, Anthony Sov and Raphael de Cabo of the SIRT3 and SIRT4 genes.
These experiments have proven that a sensible diet can
affect the vital activity of the cell inside it at the molecular level and prolong life by activating the expression of these genes, which in turn increases the level of mitochondrial activity. 70 years ago it became known that food restrictions prolong life. In all organisms, from yeast to primates, significant calorie restriction in the diet lengthens life by a third.
A molecular mechanism has now been established to explain this phenomenon.

Scientists at Harvard Medical School, led by Professor David Sinclair, have discovered two proteins, SIRT3 and SIRT4, from the sirtuins family, proteins that slow down the aging process. (Another protein from this family, SIRT1, plays an important role in extending lifespan when stimulated with resveratrol, a substance found in red wine.)
Mitochondria are the "cellular energy factory" that lives in the cytoplasm. With a decrease in calories entering the cell, signals about this are sent to the mitochondria and activate the NAMPT enzyme in them, which enhances the synthesis of NAD +, a molecule necessary in most metabolic processes.
NAD+ activates the mitochondrial proteins SIRT3 and SIRT4. Result:
mitochondria increases the supply of energy to the cell and significantly slows down the process of its aging. In the cells of the rat liver, "starved" for 48 hours, increased the level mitochondrial NAD+, which provides an increase in cell survival, and hence the extension of their life.
A new key has emerged to lock up the aging process and associated diseases: SIRT3 and SIRT4 are potential drug targets for diseases of adulthood (such as cancer, diabetes, neurodegenerative diseases, etc.). For example, "this drug could be a small molecule that directly increases the amount of NAD+ or SIRT3 and SIRT4 in the mitochondria," according to Professor Sinclair.

Hongying Yang et al. "Nutrient-Sensitive Mitochondrial NAD+ Levels Dictate Cell Survival" published in Cell on September 21, 2007.

Molecular mechanisms of intermittent fasting and permanent calorie restriction

What are the molecular mechanisms for increasing life expectancy due to intermittent fasting?
Japanese scientists have found that intermittent fasting also increases lifespan through a different signaling pathway than that of total calorie restriction.
Diet restrictions are the most effective remedy increase the life expectancy of animals of various species. In mammals, two types of dietary restrictions have been shown to increase lifespan and slow age-related diseases: intermittent fasting (IF) and chronic caloric restriction.
With the first type of regimen, part of the time there are no restrictions on food intake, while the other part of the time the body undergoes starvation. Such a regimen can increase life expectancy even when total caloric intake is reduced little or no at all. The very absence of food can serve as a signal in determining life expectancy, independent of the total amount of calories consumed and even more powerful. Research has shown that these signals travel through different molecular pathways.
A group of Japanese scientists from Kyoto University have managed to develop an intermittent fasting regimen that prolongs the life of a round worm Caenorhabditis elegans, which is the first time such a regimen has been developed for an invertebrate. This object is the most convenient and most often used in the study of aging, especially its molecular mechanisms. Complete deprivation of food every second or every third day increased the lifespan of this organism by 40% and 56%, respectively.
Such a diet also increased resistance to heat and oxidative stress, as well as markedly slowed age-related physiological "fading". Researchers have shown that this object small GTPase RHEB-1 plays a dual role in the regulation of life expectancy. This protein is essential for the lifespan extension induced by intermittent fasting, but its inhibition mimics the effect of caloric restriction, which in these animals does not appear to increase lifespan. RHEB-1 is expressed in C. elegans throughout the body from the earliest stages of development to adulthood. This expression is activated in response to starvation and is downregulated by subsequent feeding.
Intermittent fasting increases lifespan far more than continuous calorie restriction. but its effect is not seen in animals with inhibition of RHEB-1 expression by RNA interference.
RHEB-1 exerts its longevity effects primarily through the activation of the TOR protein. It is a signaling protein whose activity is reduced during starvation and whose artificial inhibition leads to an increase in lifespan similar to that of caloric restriction.
In animals with inhibition of TOR expression, the effect of intermittent fasting is still manifested, although to a lesser extent than in the wild type. The signaling pathways of RHEB-1 and TOR proteins are complex and ambiguous, for example, they contribute to an increase in total protein synthesis, and lifespan, at least in roundworms, increases with a decrease in it.
Protein daf-16 also needed to increase the lifespan of worms during intermittent fasting. It belongs to the transcription factors of the forkhead family and mediates the effect of signaling pathways of insulin-like growth factors on aging. Stressful conditions, which include starvation, trigger its movement into the cell nucleus. RHEB-1 and TOR are required for this movement and activation of DAF-16 targets. Thus, DAF-16 mediates, at least in part, the signaling functions of RHEB-1 during intermittent fasting-related longevity.

The molecular mechanisms of intermittent fasting and caloric restriction are different. For example, gene expression levels rab-10 and pha-4,
the expression level of the first of which decreases, and the second
increases with calorie restriction, does not change with
intermittent fasting. With RNA interference between RHEB-1 and TOR, the expression level of pha-4 increases, which may indicate that during caloric restriction (but not during intermittent fasting), signaling occurs precisely through this protein. It is also known that the lifespan-prolonging effect of overexpression pha-4 does not depend on daf-16. Most likely, the signaling pathway branching occurs directly "downstream" from RHEB-1 and TOR.
Using the microarray method, the researchers found that the expression of 112 genes increased by more than 3 times in C. elegans during starvation, for the vast majority of which this increase depended on both RHEB-1 and TOR.
Increased expression of 18 genes depended on RHEB-1, but not on TOR, which
may indicate the initiation of a TOR-independent signaling pathway from RHEB-1 leading to an increase in life expectancy during intermittent fasting. One of the genes whose induction during starvation depends on RHEB-1 and TOR is hsp-12.6, which C.elegans encodes an orthologue of the small heat shock protein αB-crystallin. It is very likely that hsp-12.6 is one of the targets daf-16.
It is known that mutants in which the protein is inactive daf-2, long live. Them reduced level insulin/IGF-like peptides entails constitutive activation daf-16 and higher expression hsp-12.6,
than the wild type. In these mutants, intermittent fasting is not noticeable.
prolongs lifespan. This suggests that intermittent fasting works by reducing activity. daf-2.
The data of these researchers support the idea that, at the molecular level, the effects of intermittent fasting are determined by a decrease in the activity of the signaling pathway. daf-2 leading to activation daf-16, hsp-12.6 and hsf-1.
Expression of 298 genes in C.elegans decreased more than 3 times during intermittent fasting. Of these, the activity of only one gene, ins-7(insulin-like), increased after fasting with RNA interference of RHEB-1 and TOR compared with the control. The product of this gene has been shown to reduce lifespan by inhibiting the activity daf-16 through daf-2, therefore, the decrease in its amount caused by starvation may be a mechanism for increasing life expectancy.
However, there are other insulin-like peptides that compensate ins-7 with its deletion, due to which the suppression of the effect of intermittent fasting on life expectancy is small. Starvation reduces their expression.
Only when scientists can simultaneously suppress the expression of several insulin-like genes will it be possible to noticeably mimic the positive effects of fasting on lifespan.
Various Diet Restriction Protocols C.elegans prolong the life of that organism through different molecular pathways. Complete food deprivation increases lifespan regardless of daf-2 and daf-16, although this regimen resembles intermittent fasting. DAF-16 translocates to the nucleus in response to starvation, but returns to the cytoplasm when starved for more than 2 days. It is known that a permanent restriction of the diet in C.elegans effect on lifespan mediated by protein daf-16, whose "upstream" regulator is aak-2, an orthologue of AMPK, but to increase life expectancy during intermittent fasting, it is not necessary, instead it acts daf-2.

Knowledge of relative effectiveness in the fight against senile diseases and molecular mechanisms various types dietary regimens may help in the future in developing pharmacological preparations to increase life expectancy.

Significant experiments in this field

Biologists have created bread yeast that can live up to 800(yeast) years with no visible side effects.
This is very important discovery, achieved by combining diets
and genetic changes brings science closer to control
above longevity and health foundations of all living
systems: cells.
"We are creating the basis for reprogramming the cell to
healthy life," said study leader Walter Longo of the University of Southern California.
This study was published in an issue of the Public Science Library's Journal of Genetics (PLOS Genetics).
A similar study by his team showing that similar genetic changes in yeast are reversing syndrome accelerated aging appeared in The Journal of Cell Biology.
Longo's team planted bread yeast on calorie restricted diet and knocked out (turned off) 2 genes - RAS2 and
SCH9, - contributing to the aging of yeast and the appearance cancer in people.
"We got 10x life extension, which, in my opinion, is the record ever achieved in living organisms," says Longo.
In 2005, the same research group already reported on 5 times life extension in Cell magazine.
Regular yeast live for about a week.
"I would like to say that a 10-fold life extension is quite a significant achievement," says Anna McCormick,
Head of the Department of Genetics and Cell Biology at the National Institute on Aging (NIA) and Program Manager at Longo's team.

"NIA is funding such research in anticipation of an extension healthy life people by developing medicines replicating the life-extending techniques used by Longo and others," adds McCormick.
Bread yeast is for scientists one of the most studied and understood organisms at the molecular and genetic level. In light of this simplicity, it is remarkable that yeast has led to the discovery of some of the most important genes and pathways for controlling aging and disease in mice and other mammals.

A study recently published in the journal Cell
(Cell, issue 130, pp. 247-258, 2007 ) shows that mice gene mutation, first found by Longo's team, lived 30% longer, how
ordinary, and were also protected from heart and bone diseases with no visible side effects.
In the near future, Longo's group plans to further study the prolongation of the life of mice, as well as the study peoples of Ecuador with mutations similar to those described by him in yeast.
"People with two copies of these mutations have dwarf stature and other health problems," he says. “Now we are looking for their relatives with a single copy of the mutation, which appear to be normal.” We expect that we will find in them an overall decrease in the incidence and increase in life expectancy".

Longo warns that, as with the Ecuadorians, longevity mutations tend to be accompanied by severe growth problems and other health problems. "Finding drugs to extend human life without side effects will not be easy," he says.
A simpler goal, Longo adds, would be to use the accumulated knowledge of life extension to prevent specific diseases.
In a study published in the Journal of Cell Biology, Longo's team created a yeast model with human Werner/Bloom syndrome, an incurable disease characterized by premature aging, an increase in the incidence of cancer and, ultimately, killing its victims.

The same mutations that play leading role in a 10-fold life extension, also reversed process premature aging, the researchers found.
Longo suggests that existing drugs, targeting similar anti-aging metabolic pathways in humans - for example,
a specific pathway involving insulin-like growth factor, or , - were tested in patients with Werner/Bloom syndrome.

"Perhaps they will not work, but I believe that, having no effective drugs for the treatment of this disease, it would certainly be nice to try them," says Longo.
In a study published in PLOS Genetics, Longo's team established major overlaps between genes involved in and control of
longevity of yeast and mammals, and at the same time involved in extending life through calorie restriction.

"We have identified 3 transcription factor... which are very
important for the effect calorie restriction, but at the same
over time, we have also shown that this is not enough, because even without these transcription factors, calorie restriction only slightly prolongs life,” says Longo. “Which means that we have found quite a few key players in the effect of calorie restriction, but not all.”
Calorie restriction - well in practice controlled fasting, is a long-proven way to reduce disease and increase lifespan in many species, from yeast to mice. Scientists believe that nutritional deficiency puts the body into economy mode, in which they redirect energy from growth and reproduction to anti-aging.
"Calorie restriction is currently being tested in primates and even in humans," says Longo. However, calorie restriction is so severe that many
scientists joke: "It only creates the illusion that your life is dragging on
longer".
biological research The Salk Institute in La Jolla, Calif., led by Andrew Dillin, has identified a key gene in nematode worms that closely links low-calorie foods to longevity. The researchers believe that the gene will shed light on how constant fasting contributes to life extension.
Identification of the "molecular pathway to longevity" allows us to develop pharmaceuticals that will replicate the effect of calorie restriction and perhaps allow people to reap its rewards without torturing themselves with a strict diet that only the most severe ascetics can endure.
In an article published in the journal Nature, Professor Andrew
Dillin and his colleagues prove that one of the nematode genes, namely
pha-4 is responsible for increasing lifespan. The gene works by regulating "sweet cravings", helping the body to eat in a way that avoids the two extremes of undereating and overeating.
"For 72 years we didn't know why calorie restriction worked, but
now we finally have the genetic data to decipher
longevity program, says Professor
Dillin. – This is the first gene that is absolutely necessary and, moreover,
is directly important for the life extension response to dietary restrictions."
When scientists propagated the pha-4 genes in worm organisms, lifespan increased. This may provide a clue to the recipe for "long life pills".
The analysis showed that this gene can increase the content of superoxidant proteins that destroy free radicals - harmful chemicals that are considered to be the culprits of aging.
According to the researchers, this may be defense mechanism helping living beings to endure malnutrition.
Humans have three genes that scientists say are "reasonably similar" to pha-4 nematodes. All of them belong to the Fox family. All three genes play an important role in early human development as well as later in life. They regulate the synthesis of glucagon
a hormone secreted by the pancreas that raises blood sugar and provides energy balance in the body, especially when a person is fasting. Under conditions of food shortage, these genes can change the level of glucagon in the body or trigger other hormonal changes that ultimately regulate the aging process.
Now Dillin and his colleagues are going to study these human genes to see if they will respond to starvation in the same way as nematode genes. For nematodes, the favorite food is bacteria.

Questions not yet answered

While the benefits of calorie restriction are clear for prolonging a healthy full life, some questions remain open.
First of all, the molecular mechanisms triggered in the body during starvation are far from being fully deciphered.
Also, it is not fully known whether fasting is harmful to people who initially have a normal weight.
Lifespan extension experiments are initially difficult due to the long time-consuming nature of this type of research, so data in this area are somewhat modest, and results obtained in worms or mice may not be applicable to humans. However, several of the laboratories mentioned above are working on monkeys, which will undoubtedly contribute to our more detailed understanding of the nature of the increase in life expectancy due to calorie restriction.
July 19, 2009

Related links

• Rapamycin prolongs the life of mice (pdf format ...
  An important and very interesting article in the latest Nature on the effect of rapamycin, an inhibitor of the mTOR pathway, on lifespan
• calorie calculator
  The calculator will help you estimate the number of calories consumed and expended.

Previously, the words “proper nutrition for weight loss” caused us no other associations than restrictions, starvation and insipid food. Now that healthy lifestyle life sits at the peak of fashion, humanity began to relate to the unknown phrase softer and calmer. We understand that the time has come not to hide from oppressive problems, but to overcome them. Eating right means getting healthier at home without any doctors or medications. But eating right also means effective weight loss without starvation is the secret desire of thousands of women around the world.

PP: how to last a lifetime

Often, articles about proper nutrition begin with a list of rules and restrictions that need to be implemented. We will go the other way and tell you what to eat if you decide to take the side balanced diet. It may come as a surprise to you that products for proper nutrition are selected not by the number of calories, but by chemical composition- the ratio of proteins, lipids and carbohydrates. These indicators are included in the foundations of proper nutrition, and calorie content is important only for those who want to lose weight. So, the list of necessary products:

• all kinds of vegetables and fruits (bananas and grapes too);
• cereals and products made from whole grain flour;
• fish;
• dairy;
• meat;
• eggs;
• vegetable oils;
• nuts;
• for the sweet tooth - chocolate.

You are probably surprised by the last point, and many of those described above, because most of them have high calorie content. To be clear, the point of PP is not to cut calories, as in diets. The main task is to eat as tasty as possible, saturating the body with useful minerals and vitamins, but without exceeding any daily norms.

Therefore, the planning and distribution of products for dinner, lunch, breakfast and snacks is of great importance in the PP - reviews only confirm this fact. Therefore, 10-20 g of dark chocolate in the morning with coffee for the sweet tooth is not prohibited: it is better to have a little every day than a bar in five minutes.

Any restrictions and rules increase the likelihood of a breakdown. Stall Means Instant Consumption junk food in large quantities. Not many women can return to the right diet, berating themselves for not being able to last. Reviews and results prove: it’s better to allow yourself a little favorite product every 7-10 days or run into fast food with friends and continue following the PP the next day than to hold on for a month and then break loose and avoid the rules for the rest of your life.

A plate of balanced nutrition

The next step in importance after the products is the plate in which these products are placed. Portion size, quantity, and even the combination of ingredients play a huge role in how calories behave in the body: deposited in the sides or burned for energy. It is believed that the plate should consist of 50% fiber (vegetables, greens), 25% fat and 25% protein. An example is this: half the plate will be occupied by vegetables and herbs, and the rest by a fist of porridge and a palm of meat.

According to the accepted rules, the daily diet should be divided according to the following principle: 25% of calories for breakfast, 35% for lunch, about 15% for afternoon tea and other snacks during the day, and again 25% for dinner. Some nutritionists advise skipping dinner altogether, replacing it with a light snack of vegetables or a glass of green tea. But the saying that you need to eat breakfast yourself, share lunch with friends, and give dinner to an enemy is somewhat outdated. After research by scientists, the diet should be divided according to the type of figure:

• mixed type - body fat is distributed evenly throughout the body. 30% for breakfast, dinner and lunch. 5% falls on snacks between three meals;
• genoid type - fat folds formed in the lower part of the body. 20% for breakfast, 30% for lunch and as much as 40% for dinner! Surprisingly, this might work. Unless, of course, do not forget about snacks at 5% each;
• android type - excess weight focuses on the upper body. Exactly the opposite: breakfast - 40%, lunch - 30%, and dinner - 20%. And all the same snacks for 5%.

Of course, it is up to you to decide which diet you want to try on yourself, because the main task- so that the principle of proper nutrition becomes a way of life, and not an annoying self-suggested rule. It is not so important whether you eat once a day or divide the menu into 8 meals. The main thing is that you feel comfortable, you get the right substances with food and do not feel hungry. It is hunger that provokes the deposition of fat reserves. Avoid hunger - and you can lose weight!

We eat when we want to drink

Do not be surprised, this is how we usually do, albeit unconsciously. In the frantic pace of life, we can no longer always distinguish thirst from hunger. Therefore, nutritionists recommend: if you want to eat, then it's time to drink a glass of water! Wait 10 minutes, most likely the feeling of hunger will leave you. Drink clean water very important - this is one of the effective and undeniable principles of rapid weight loss.

The PP system for water has only three rules. First, drink 20 minutes before meals. Second, do not drink 120 minutes after eating. Third, drink as much as your body needs. And this is about one or two liters per day.

budget and vitamins

There is such a stereotype that eating right is expensive and very unprofitable for the budget. But those who step on this path note that eating right is expensive not for the wallet, but for strength and time. After all, a healthy diet involves the preparation of a variety of foods and an extensive diet. Not everyone has the opportunity to buy meat every day or cook three dishes of their choice. Therefore, you need to remember about vitamin and mineral complexes, without which you can’t do at all during weight loss.

Proper nutrition for both men and women involves avoiding only harmful foods, but this does not mean that all 70 different ingredients enter the body daily. But, in order to lose weight quickly, without any damage to health, the body needs resources in the form of vitamins and minerals.

Open the calorie tables, be patient and confidently step towards a healthy diet - your body will thank you!

The calculation is simple: drugs are on the way, if not for all, then for most types of cancer, gene therapy has already begun to be used - they are about to appear, and most importantly, technologies will become available that will allow you to feel like a slightly elderly person for the first time at 70 and only just start to slowly reduce the load. People will live longer, much longer - but not all. To reach this wonderful time, you need to start right now.

1. Why fasting is good?

The benefits of fasting were first discussed back in the 30s of the last century. Since then, scientists have not only made sure that laboratory animals on low calorie diet live longer than usual, but also discovered why this happens. During the experiments, it turned out that when the cells of the body lack nutrients, they begin to produce new proteins, carbohydrates, acids and lipids from their own components - roughly speaking, they begin to "eat" themselves, primarily those of their parts (macromolecules and organelles) that are damaged.

This process is called autophagy - the term first appeared in the 60s of the last century, and since then biologists have been studying cellular “self-eating”. Last year, people far from science also heard about autophagy. The Nobel Committee considered the most significant scientific discovery in the field of medicine and physiology, the study of the mechanisms of autophagy by a molecular biologist from Japan, Yoshinori Ohsumi. His research proved that autophagy is of great physiological importance for mammals.

Scientists have discovered that autophagy is not just a type of programmed cell death, it is also a kind of protective mechanism that can save the cell. They suggested that in the early stages of cellular transformation (formation malignant tumors and neurodegenerative diseases), autophagy can protect the cell. In other words, by studying the mechanism of autophagy, one can learn to fight cancer, Parkinson's, Huntington's and Alzheimer's diseases in the early stages.

You need to deprive cells of nutrition while you are young and healthy: when the disease develops, autophagy, on the contrary, can play into its hands. If you are too lazy to go into the details of numerous studies on molecular biology (you will have to read a lot and translate from English articles from foreign scientific journals, in which, in addition to autophagy, there are a lot of interesting things about the effect of fasting on health), do it easier: try to follow the example of the most savvy in the science and technology of people living and working in Silicon Valley. Almost all startups there are simply obsessed with starvation. Of course, they follow research in the field of life extension - and even more so what Nobel laureates are working on. They also know that the centenarians of Okinawa consume only 800 kcal per day (instead of the usual 2000 for Westerners), and they know exactly what to do in order to live to 100 years old - it’s not for nothing that centennial anniversaries are celebrated on this Japanese island one after another. others.

2. Where to start?

To get started, to give the process a playful character, get like-minded people or just download the Zero app - a time counter during which you do not eat. From the moment the countdown has begun, consider that you have already joined the club of California and London crowdfunders - on occasion you will have something to measure.

Since it is extremely difficult to even restrict yourself in food, and even more so not to eat for several days at all, you can first try intermittent (short-term) fasting. Start, for example, by eating no more than 500 kcal per day once a week or refusing one meal three to four times a week.

It is easiest to start fasting at night. In other words, most of the time you don't eat should be at night. American fitness expert Nia Shanks honestly talks not only about the positive aspects of regular exercise, following strict diets and all that is called the buzzword healthy lifestyle, but also about their side effects: a decrease in self-esteem, constant fatigue, obsessive thoughts about meal and exercise schedules, overeating, anxiety and other unpleasant things that can occur if you do not listen to the needs of your own body.

Shanks, who has experienced all of the above, advises not to do anything that can be perceived by the body as an ordeal. Both training and diet should bring you joy, and not become torture. If the thought of not eating for a whole day terrifies you, immediately put it out of your head. Start small: 16-hour interval between evening and morning meals. Choose the most a simple program and then move on to the next level.

The scheme is simple: every day you finish eating, say, at 18:00, and the next day you start not earlier than 10:00. Between ten in the morning and six in the evening, you can eat twice or thrice - the main thing is to withstand a 16-hour gap without food. This mode is so simple - although no one thinks so at first - that you will soon be drawn into it.

If daily 16-hour fasting is no longer enough for you and you are ready to switch to next level, try 24-hour no food. You can start, again, on the afternoon of the previous day, so that most of the “break between meals,” as his main promoter Brad Pilon calls this method, falls in the evening and night (after all, you are already used to not eating in the evenings). Ideally, the method assumes that you will take such "breaks" twice a week.

Another diet that works well is called the "warrior diet". Her followers, as it were, return themselves to those times when people got their own food. In the middle of the day, the "warriors" eat very little - fruit or a few vegetables, and they have one real meal - in the evening (that is, they seem to eat what they managed to get on the hunt). This scheme suitable for those, who at work and so do not have time to eat - it is enough just to systematize the already familiar way of life.

The “next day” scheme was invented by Dr. James Johnson. He recommends alternating half-starved and regular days. It works like this: you start the cycle by eating one-fifth of your normal diet (men need about 2500 kcal per day). In other words, on the first day, the calorie content of the food you eat should not exceed 500 kcal. Of course, this is an average - more precisely, you can calculate the calorie content of your diet by adjusting for weight and other indicators. The next day, you eat everything you normally do. And on the third day you return to 500 kcal. Johnson recommends eating this way for two weeks in a row. However, it is not at all necessary to abandon this diet so quickly if it suits you.

Even if you periodically starve according to one of these systems (the so-called intermittent fasting), this does not mean that the rest of the time you can eat everything that comes to hand. General recommendations no one has canceled healthy eating - you already know what foods you should not eat: they will not become less harmful, even if you eat them after daily fasting. On the contrary: you will have to monitor the quality of what you eat even more strictly.

1. Drink more water. If you get tired of ordinary mineral water, you can add lemon or a little to the water. apple cider vinegar, brew dried wild rose or fresh mint.

2. Don't quit training. Sports activities enhance the healing effect of fasting. Listen carefully to yourself: a slight weakness in the process of training may pass, but if you do not feel very well, quit immediately. And never forget that, in the end, fasting is not torture and not aunt, but a kind of pleasure.