When you think of cutting back on calories, the first goal that comes to mind isn’t necessarily to help your metabolism, right? According to new research, your waistline isn’t the only thing that can benefit from a moderate reduction to your regular caloric intake.
Fewer Calories will Help Your Immune System
The research was recently published in the Science journal under the title “Caloric restriction has a new player” by Timothy W. Rhoads and Rozalyn M. Anderson. What it showed was that by restricting calories even modestly, it will help your immune system and give your metabolism a boost at the same time. The difference was substantial enough that the researchers said it could help to improve longevity and the quality of life during those extra years.
The difference starts to happen after someone has made the calorie restrictions for as short a time as two years. So even if you haven’t counted a single calorie until this point, starting now and continuing over the next couple of years could help your immune system and metabolism for the rest of your life. The longer you keep it up, the more your body will be able to benefit from it in terms of overall wellness and longevity.
This Doesn’t Mean Extreme Food Reduction
The researchers found that it didn’t take a large number of cutbacks to make a difference. The study showed that reductions of about 14 percent for two years were enough to help the immune system and that this assistance was enough to improve wellness and longevity. What they found happened was that if the reduction happened for that length of time, the body would start to produce more T cells. Those are central players in the way the immune system functions. They also help to slow down the overall process of aging.
As a natural part of aging, T cell numbers reduce. That’s part of the reason that seniors and the elderly often struggle to fight off certain types of cancer and infections in general. However, when calories are reduced, it helps your immune system generate more T cells, which counteracts the impact age has on their production.
It Boosts Your Metabolism as it Helps Your Immune System
Beyond the way it helps your immune system, boosting T cells is also associated with increasing your metabolism. These cells are linked with burning fatty acid stores more efficiently for energy.
Therefore, while the calorie restrictions help your body to fight off infections more effectively, it also helps to prevent your body from building up fat around the muscles and organs such as the liver, which can lead to obesity, insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes and faster aging.
This research provides a great reason to take another look at what your current calorie intake is, and what it could be if you were to reduce it slightly for very healthy results. Don’t forget that there are lots of diet pills containing clinically researched ingredients that can help you as you build that new eating habit so you can keep it up over time.
