In aged subjects they improve things like: … activity level.
Could you expand on this? I’m curious, because it doesn’t match my personal experience; I find that if I eat less or skip meals, my activity level is reduced, to such a degree that I wouldn’t do calorie restriction or intermittent fasting even if it did increase lifespan by a significant amount. Biochemistries vary, of course, and I’m not exactly biotypical, but it seems intuitively that consuming more calories ought to correlate with activity, since they’re a resource that calories consume.
Some articles said that the CR subjects exhibited more restlessness, or “foraging” type behavior. This hypothesis wasn’t tested as far as I know, though.
Based on my experience, I didn’t feel less active or lethargic, just hungry. I think my body conserved its calories by reducing resting metabolic rate: Decreases in pulse, blood pressure, body temperature, body mass. My desire to exercise did not diminish, and neither did my capacity for aerobic exercises like running and swimming.
It is also widely believed there are short-term effects. Maybe the subject gets into a mildly stressed state where they are motivated towards taking action which might result in food being consumed. Maybe they spend less of their time incapacitated while digesting food. Whatever the explanation, these are not just long-term effects, I am pretty sure.
Could you expand on this? I’m curious, because it doesn’t match my personal experience; I find that if I eat less or skip meals, my activity level is reduced, to such a degree that I wouldn’t do calorie restriction or intermittent fasting even if it did increase lifespan by a significant amount. Biochemistries vary, of course, and I’m not exactly biotypical, but it seems intuitively that consuming more calories ought to correlate with activity, since they’re a resource that calories consume.
Some articles said that the CR subjects exhibited more restlessness, or “foraging” type behavior. This hypothesis wasn’t tested as far as I know, though.
Based on my experience, I didn’t feel less active or lethargic, just hungry. I think my body conserved its calories by reducing resting metabolic rate: Decreases in pulse, blood pressure, body temperature, body mass. My desire to exercise did not diminish, and neither did my capacity for aerobic exercises like running and swimming.
I believe this is a long-term trend, relative to controls. “Aged” CR subjects exhibit more activity than non-CR subjects the same age.
It is also widely believed there are short-term effects. Maybe the subject gets into a mildly stressed state where they are motivated towards taking action which might result in food being consumed. Maybe they spend less of their time incapacitated while digesting food. Whatever the explanation, these are not just long-term effects, I am pretty sure.