Long live less calories

A 20-year study of monkeys shows that a reduced-calorie diet pays off in less disease and longer life, US researchers say, a finding that could apply to humans.

They say rhesus monkeys on a strict, reduced-calorie diet were three times less likely to die from age-related diseases like heart disease, cancer and diabetes over the study period than monkeys that ate as they liked.

"We have been able to show that caloric restriction can slow the aging process in a primate species," says Richard Weindruch of the University of Wisconsin in Madison, whose study appears in the journal Science.