How much should we eat? The association between energy intake and mortality in a 36-year follow-up study of Japanese-American men.
Energy restriction extends life span and lowers mortality from age-related diseases in many species, but the effects in humans are unknown. We prospectively examined this relationship in a large epidemiological study of Japanese-American men. We followed 1915 healthy nonsmokers, aged 45-68 years at study onset, for 36 years. Twenty-four-hour recall of diet was recorded at baseline, and follow-up was for all-cause mortality. After adjustment for age and other confounders, there was a trend toward lower mortality in the second quintile of energy intake, suggesting that men who consumed 15% below the group mean were at the lowest risk for all-cause mortality. Increased mortality was seen with intakes below 50% of group mean. Thus, we observed trends between low energy intake and reduced risk for all-cause mortality in humans until energy intake fell to less than half the group mean, consistent with previous findings in other species.
Willcox
Bradley J
BJ
Pacific Health Research Institute, 846 South Hotel St., Suite 301, Honolulu, HI 96813, USA. bjwillcox@phrihawaii.org
Yano
Katsuhiko
K
Chen
Randi
R
Willcox
D Craig
DC
Rodriguez
Beatriz L
BL
Masaki
Kamal H
KH
Donlon
Timothy
T
Tanaka
Brandi
B
Curb
J David
JD
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D004034:Diet Surveys; D002149:Energy Intake / Q000502:physiology*; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006254:Hawaii; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan / Q000208:ethnology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009026:Mortality; D011446:Prospective Studies