Western-style diet does not negatively affect the healthy aging benefits of lifelong restrictive feeding

BACKGROUND: Lifelong consumption of a Western-style diet is a risk factor for developing metabolic disorders and therefore impairs healthy aging. Dietary restriction (DR) could delay the onset of age-related diseases and prolong life span, however, the extent to which this depends on diet type is poorly understood.

OBJECTIVE: To study whether feeding a Western-style diet affects the healthy aging benefits of DR.

METHODS: Mice fed a Western-style diet (ad libitum and DR) were compared to those fed a standard healthy diet (ad libitum and DR). Survival and several metabolic and endocrine parameters were analyzed.

RESULTS: Lifelong consumption of a Western-style diet resulted in increased adiposity, elevated triglyceride levels in plasma, higher homeostatic model assessment-insulin resistance and higher resting metabolic rate in mice compared to the standard diet group. This was accompanied by reduced survival in the Western-style diet group. DR irrespective of diet type improved abovementioned parameters.

CONCLUSIONS: Lifelong restricted consumption of Western-style diet led to improved metabolic and endocrine parameters, and increased survival compared to the ad libitum Western-style diet group. Interestingly, the survival was comparable in restricted Western-style and standard diet groups, suggesting that reduced food intake rather than diet composition play more important role in promoting longevity/survival.