Aging, Diet, and Mitochondria

Read the article “Calorie Restriction and Aging,” by Richard Weindruch.

Weindruch, R. (2006). Calorie restriction and aging. Scientific American Special Edition, 16(4), 54–61.

The article discusses how people who eat a radically restricted diet might be able to prevent their bodies from aging as quickly as they otherwise would. As the article indicates, one of the organelles you have learned about this week, mitochondria, plays an important role in this process.

Additional cellular organelles are also implicated in influencing lifespan. To learn more, read the article “The fine line between lifespan extension and shortening in response to caloric restriction” by Kirk Szafranksi and Karim Mekhail.

Szafranski, K., & Mekhail, K. (2014). The fine line between lifespan extension and shortening in response to caloric restriction. Nucleus (Austin, Tex.), 5(1), 56–65.

Discuss:

Based on your research, how do these diets typically work? Would you be willing to try one? Why or why not?
The possible benefits of a radically restricted diet as described in the article.
Any possible problems with the research.
The drawbacks to maintaining such a restricted dietary intake.
If you were to try this diet, what foods might you eliminate and why?
The role mitochondria play in the cell, and what its role has to do with food.
The role that other cellular organelles may play in influencing lifespan.

400 words min. References and citations required. NO PLAGIARISM

Course textbook: Ireland, K. (2013). Visualizing human biology (4th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley & Sons.

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