ABSTRACT
Since the seminal rat studies by Clive McCay at Cornell University in the 1930s, scientists have reported life span extension and amelioration of age-associated pathologies by calorie restriction (CR) (McCay et al. 1935). Similar CR benets have also been expanded to nonhuman primates in some (Colman et al. 2014; Weindruch and Walford 1982), but not all studies (Mattison et al. 2012). These promising results from laboratory animals are now targeting CR regimens as a strategic dietary option for safe and effective weight loss and cardiometabolic improvement in humans. The relevance of examining potential benets of CR in humans is twofold: (1) public health statistics reveal that approximately 35% of American adults are classied as obese (Ogden et al. 2014) with a similar number classied as overweight, and (2) the potential benets of CR have been most studied and best characterized in subjects with one or more metabolic dysfunctions associated with an increased risk for developing cardiovascular disease.
