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Natural Health News — A low-protein, high-carbohydrate diet may be the most effective way to stimulate production of a hormone with life-extending and obesity-fighting benefits.
Writing in the journal Cell Metabolism, researchers from the University of Sydney’s Charles Perkins Centre shine a light on the role of a little-known hormone called Fibroblast Growth Factor 21 (FGF21) – the so-called ‘fountain of youth’ hormone produced primarily in the liver.
Previous studies have shown that FGF21 plays a role in curbing appetite, moderating metabolism, improving the immune system and extending lifespan. It is also currently being used as a therapeutic target for diabetes, though little is known about how this hormone is triggered and released in the body.
Using an animal model the scientists say their research shows that diet may play a key role.
» The popular Paleo diet suggests that a high protein, low carbohydrate diet is the key to longevity. But a new analysis suggests the opposite may be true.
» Using an animal model Australian researchers found that a low-protein, high carbohydrate diet triggered the release of a hormone – FGF21 – the so-called ‘fountain of youth’ hormone.
» How the body uses FGF21 seems to depend on dietary factors. The low-protein diet not only switches the hormone on, but helps it to assist the body to burn calories more efficiently as well.
Questioning the Paleo diet
“Despite the popularity of high protein ‘Paleo’ diets, our research suggests the exact opposite may be best for us as we age – that a low-protein, high-carbohydrate diet was the most beneficial for late life health and longevity,” said lead author Dr Samantha Solon-Biet.
The nutritional context in which FGF21 levels are at their highest, the researchers found, is dependent on the balance of protein to carbohydrate, and this balance was also shown to be important in how this hormone helps to mediate protein hunger.
To come to these conclusions the researchers fed 858 mice one of 25 diets that varied in protein, carbohydrate, fat and energy content. These diets ranged from five to 60% protein and 5 to 75% carbohydrate and fat.
This gave the researchers plenty of data to investigate how nutritional balance affected FGF21 levels.
“FGF21 has been shown to be elevated in really paradoxical conditions: in starvation and obesity, in cases of both insulin resistance and sensitivity and when there’s a high and a low intake of food,” said co-author Professor Stephen Simpson, Academic Director of the Charles Perkins Centre.
Diet determines the outcome
Researchers saw something of the paradoxical way the body uses FGF21 in this study; when high carbohydrate diets increased FGF21 levels, the animals’ bodies compensated for the excess by burning more energy. Conversely in a starvation state, FGF21 promoted energy conservation.
In other words, FGF21 is switched on by a low protein intake, but its metabolic effects vary on whether it’s coupled with high or low energy intake.
“These findings take us one step closer to understanding how FGF21 works, and as an extension of that to be able to use FGF21 to help people live longer and healthier lives,” said Solon-Biet
We have some way to go before we know how to tailor a specific diet to stimulate this hormone, Simpson suggests. But he adds “Despite the popularity of high protein ‘Paleo’ diets, our research suggests the exact opposite may be best for us as we age.
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