It’s been known for a while that severely restricting food intake can increase lifespan in some animals dramatically – but few people have been willing to take that step. Now, though, researchers have identified a ‘starvation hormone’ that has the same effect on mice, without the need for calorie restriction.
“In our study, we found transgenic mice that produced more of the hormone fibroblast growth factor-21 (FGF21) got the benefits of dieting without having to limit their food intake,” says professor Steven Kliewer of UT Southwestern Medical Center. “Male mice that overproduced the hormone had about a 30 percent increase in average life span and female mice had about a 40 percent increase in average life span.”