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[ImmortalSpace]

So I found this study and yeah, calorie restriction decreases glycation. I'm conflicted on some things,

there was another study that said calorie restriction resulted in thinner hair and skin in mice which leads me to wonder

is there an optimal amount of calorie restriction that one should do? I heard that 30% less of your normal calories is ideal.

Anyways, I'd like a discussion on this here are the studies. 

 

Calorie Restriction Glycation study:

http://www.ncbi.nlm....pubmed/12807921

 

Effects of Caloric Restriction on Skin and Hair Growth in Mice:

http://www.nature.co...jid195558a.html

Edited by ImmortalSpace, 09 July 2014 - 06:51 PM.

[Matt]

No doubt that if you're taking in a very low amount of calories and nutrients then hair isn't going to be a priority for the body. The dermis and epidermis, I believe, can become thinner once you start CR. I can't say that I have thin skin or problems with hair growth since starting calorie restriction though! 

I've been as low as a BMI of 16.0 and never had thin hair or skin. Perhaps I was just lucky in that regard?  I perhaps it was because during that period of more extreme CR I had my protein intake around 30% of my caloric intake and this prevented the decline in IGF-1 - so I never got to see these effects on myself.

 

I'm at a BMI of 17.4 right now with my protein intake at 10-12% and no obvious negative changes in my skin (it's pretty good!!). I have very long hair, but have noticed a slow down in growth lately (it is near my tailbone length.) But I was at one point getting around 1" a month growth - which is fast!  I have some bad ends which are breaking off or I could just be reaching my maximum hair length, I don't know. Or it could be since I lowered my protein intake.  Anyway, you can see here that my hair is far from "thin" and I've been on CR for 10 years.  Hope that puts your fears to rest?   Of course, I'm just one example!

 

Hair Pic 1
Hair Pic 2

 

 

There's this study that you seemed to have missed

 

 

Modulation of cutaneous aging with calorie restriction in Fischer 344 rats: a histological study.  (full paper is free)

http://www.ncbi.nlm....pubmed/15655168

 

RESULTS:

The ad libitum-fed rats showed age-related increase in the depth of the epidermis, dermis, and fat layer. Calorie restriction prevented these changes, but epidermal nuclear density appeared to be stimulated. A trend toward increased values for collagen and elastic fibers, fibroblasts, and capillaries in skin samples from CR rats was observed. Pilosebaceous units were not modified. Moderately reduced staining for the dermal glycosaminoglycans in the skin of CR rats was noticed.

 

CONCLUSIONS:

Histomorphological changes resulting from intrinsic aging affected some of the studied variables in the rat skin, and these changes were delayed or prevented by CR. Some stimulatory effects, such as increased densities of fibroblasts and capillary profiles and higher values of connective tissue fibers resulting from CR, were also observed. Cutaneous morphological changes due to natural aging in this rat model seem to be modified by physiological or metabolic alterations imposed by CR