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. 2004 Jan;19(1):1–5. doi: 10.1007/BF02872379

Dietary restriction (DR) and its advantages

M N Astagimath 1,✉, Shrinivas B Rao 1,✉
PMCID: PMC3453894  PMID: 23105416

Abstract

Dietary restriction (DR) also called dietary control or calorie restriction is reported to have many advantages with regard to human health. It leads to suppression of obesity, mitigates free radicals and increases available antioxidants which are accounted for extending the life span of individuals. DR is also reported to induce synthesis of heat shock proteins in animals as a control mechanism against stress. Further, it is known to play a significant role in decreasing toxicity and lethality due to a variety of toxic chemicals and drugs by stimulating tissue repair damaged by the toxicants leading to restoration of intact organ and its functions. Moreover, extensive work done on animals indicate DR has an important role in suppressing certain types of cancer. In this review an effort is made to highlight the various advantages of DR from the point of human health perspective.

Key Words: Calorie restriction, hepatocellular regeneration, obesity, cancer, reactive oxygen species, dietary restriction, aging, toxicity

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