http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2009/...extension.html

cross posted in the 100 lb club. I thought this would be interesting for maintainers as well. (I have part of a foot in the maintainence door, I received my registry forms for the national weight loss registry last month!)

I saw one of the researchers conducting these experiments on a television show, and he said that it's far to soon to assume that any of the results could or should be assumed or applied for humans. He also said that the calorie-restricted animals lived longer, but were more aggressive, more likely to bite staff, their cages and themselves, and spent more time trying to escape their cages. It's quite possible that there are trade-offs to longevity that impact upon quality of life.

They're still not sure whether it's the calorie-restriction, or the food-restriction or some other variable (maybe it's all the exercise they get trying to escape their cages).

Don't get me wrong, it's a very interesting study, but it raises more questions than answers at this point (which is what good research does, and good follow-up research will help find answers and even more good questions.)

Two things about that:

(1) I would expect a big difference in the effect on mood between animals deprived against their choice, and without reasoning ability vs. humans who are motivated to this lifestyle by choice and have the abstract ability to appreciate the future benefits.

(2) It's funny, you would think the aggression and trying to escape would be stresses that would shorten life.