Project Number: 1950-51000-061-04
Project Type: Specific Cooperative Agreement

Start Date: Oct 01, 2006
End Date: Sep 30, 2011

Objective:
To develop two healthy hypocaloric diets consistent with current dietary recommendations and compare them for their ability to promote long-term CR leading to body weight and fat losses over 1 year in overweight men and women. To test the hypothesis that there are metabolic and anti-aging benefits of long-term (2-year) calorie restriction (CR) in overweight men and women which are equivalent to the benefits seen in animal models, and which result in a delayed rate of biological aging. To quantify the relative associations of different dietary variables (including eating patterns and macronutrient composition), with energy intake and body fatness in free-living young and elderly adults.

Approach:
(1)Obesity and overweight are major public health problems, and are particularly prevalent among elderly adults. The overall goals will be to determine the etiology of weight gain at different adult ages, to develop improved methods for weight loss; and to quantify the potential metabolic benefits and risks of a caloric restriction(CR) program designed to delay biological aging in humans. In particular, a sustainable diet will be developed that can be consumed at 30% less than baseline energy requirements for 1 year and measure its effects on body composition and energy expenditure, and will use that diet to examine the feasibility and metabolic effects of 30% & 20% CR over 2 years. In addition, we will analyze national cohort data to identify and quantify the relative effects of different dietary variables on energy intake and body mass index, including dietary fat, dietary glycemic index(GI), dietary fiber, and variety.