Less food, longer life?!
This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science.
Healthy eating and restricting calories has shown to reduce aging. Is there a shortcut?
Enter Qi Qu and team at Xiamen University. They compared blood samples from dieting mice versus well-fed mice. One significantly elevated metabolic compound was found: lithocholic acid, or LCA.
LCA is naturally found in stomach bile. When the researchers gave it to aging mice, it triggered the same benefits as eating less. The mice had enhanced running distance and grip strength. In fruit flies, lifespans grew by up to ten percent.
LCA works similarly to resveratrol, the compound in red wine that was previously thought to be the key to longevity.
But forget wine – let’s raise a glass to bile!
Reference: Qu, Q., Chen, Y., Wang, Y., Long, S., Wang, W., Yang, H. Y., … & Lin, S. C. (2024). Lithocholic acid phenocopies anti-ageing effects of calorie restriction. Nature, 1-9.
Qu, Q., Chen, Y., Wang, Y., Wang, W., Long, S., Yang, H. Y., … & Lin, S. C. (2024). Lithocholic acid binds TULP3 to activate sirtuins and AMPK to slow down ageing. Nature, 1-9.