Dietary Restriction

A look at how eating less can benefit the body’s cells and combat neurological disease

Judging from common phrases like “breakfast is the most important meal of the day”, “people should eat whenever they are hungry”, and the recently popular “eat five small meals per day instead of three large ones,” public opinion seems to run against going hungry even for short periods of time. However, current research suggests that moderate hunger may actually be healthy. Scientists studying rats and mice on so-called “dietary restriction” have found that these rodents rank significantly better on various measures of health than their counterparts who are fed a more abundant diet.

In addition to studying dietary restriction (DR) in normal rats, scientists have also studied DR in “rodent models” for various neurodegenerative diseases, such as Huntington’s disease (HD), Alzheimer’s disease, and Parkinson’s disease. (In rodent models, researchers either mimic the effects of a given disease via chemicals, or use genetics to actually breed the rodents to manifest an animal form of the disorder.) Here, too, research has demonstrated beneficial effects of dietary restriction: rodent models fed on a dietary restriction system show significant relief from various disease symptoms in comparison to normally fed rodent models. Although more research is needed into the effects of DR on humans, this research suggests the possibility that “cutting back” slightly on traditional daily eating routines could be a benefit to one’s health, especially for people with certain neurodegenerative diseases including HD.

What is meant by dietary restriction? Why is it helpful in rodents? What kinds of things might it do for a person who has HD? This chapter seeks to answer these and other questions, discussing a wide array of topics surrounding the issue of dietary restriction.

• The Two Different Types of Dietary Restriction
• An Evolutionary Explanation for Why Dietary Restriction is Effective
• How HD Kills Nerve Cells and How Dietary Restriction Combats It
• How Dietary Restriction Reduces Huntingtin Protein Aggregation
• The Effects of Dietary Restriction on the Onset and Progression of HD
• The Effects of Dietary Restriction on the Symptoms of HD
• The Use of Drug Therapy in Place of Dietary Restriction
• Important Cautionary Note

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Last Modified: 04/12/2007

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