Mice put on calorie-restricted diet lose fat and gain hair

"Cell Reports" recently published the latest publication from the University of Sao Paulo in Brazil. The research team said that a calorie restriction diet can help experimental mice maintain a slim figure and prolong their lifespan. However, due to the reduction in fat content, these mice may have thicker hair in order to keep their bodies warm.

In the study, the authors compared mice that were allowed to eat any food at any time with mice that were fed a calorie-restricted diet (consuming 60% of the calories of the control group). The experimental results showed that compared with the control group, the mice receiving the calorie-restricted diet weighed less and had thicker, longer and more even hair.

The authors suggest that placing mice on a calorie-restricted diet may stimulate hair growth, increase blood flow, and alter cellular metabolism to increase energy efficiency in the skin of the mice. Animals may use these changes as evolutionary adaptations to keep their bodies warm and survive when food and fat levels are low.

The research was published in Cell Reports, Vol. 20, No. 11, pp. 2678-2692

This article is from ELSEVIER Global Pharmaceutical News