What is SIRT1?

Calorie Restriction as an activator of SIRT1

Some of the original studies regarding SIRT1 have to do with how a "calorie restrictive diet" enabled the activation of SiRT1.  Calorie restriction is a controversial diet that often comes under scrutiny by dietitians and medical professionals alike.  On the other hand there are also many professionals who support the diet.

As I did the first time I heard of calorie restriction it sounded to me like a starvation diet.  How could that be healthy I asked my self?  To answer that question I had to do some research because without it I would just be jumping to an uneducated conclusion.  What I learned was eye opening and I was able to see why both sides would argue it was healthy or not.  I'll share with you my opinion at the end of the post.

Calorie Restriction is a lifestyle diet where you in-take less calories then your body is currently accustomed to.  Usually the amount of calories per day is approximately 20% less then your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR).  For more information on calculating BMR check out this post on the "My Resveratrol Experience" web site.  There is more to it then just cutting out some calories.  The idea is to eat the appropriate foods and consume the appropriate vitamins and nutrients your body needs.

Sirtuin Researcher Lenny Gaurente PBS interview

I came across a recent interview with Lenny Guarente, a biology professor at MIT and a well know Sirtuin researcher, and thought you all might want to check it out.  The interview was done on the Earth & Sky Radio Series part of www.earthsky.org.

The interview posted on the website was brief but it had some very interesting response from Guarente.  (You can also find the complete 13 min video at the bottom of this post)  One part I found particularly helpful was a very simple explanation as to why calorie restriction is beneficial:

Guarente said a low-calorie diet – below 1,500 calories daily – triggers anti-aging genes called sirtuins.

"That can extend their life span by something like one-third."

Guarente said there’s an evolutionary reason for this.

"When conditions become harsh, and food is less available, what these sirtuin genes do is they shift the strategy towards maintenance, and that’s the state that would promote longevity and disease resistance."

The last part of the excerpt is what I find to be a great simple explanation into the mechanics of SiRT1.  When we tell our cells that maintenance is what should occur we stop them from telling the cell to die.  Thus we create more longevity for our individual cells and hopefully in turn longer life. 

What if SiRT1 can...?

So what if SiRT1 is the key to longevity, cell health, increased metabolism, etc?  It seems that almost every day more and more studies are coming out linking SiRT1 to better health.  If in fact it is the key to all of these things then who will benefit from it?  I'd like to think it will be "us!"

Most people think of the research surrounding SiRT1 as "voodoo", or something that just seems to good to be true.  Those people seem to forget that at one time scientists who found anti-biotics were told they were crazy as well.  Now it is the most commonly prescribed drug of our time.  I like to keep an open mind about these things and want to believe the research being done makes sense and "could" work.  If you think about what SiRT1 does it makes sense.  If we can activate "something" that tells our cells to fight to stay alive instead of die then why wouldn't that be a benefit to us?