Symposium: Calorie restriction: Effects on body composition, insulin signaling and aging - Introduction

At this time of increasing attention to the worldwide problem of obesity and its negative consequences for health and well being, it is timely to present a symposium on the effects of calorie restriction and the potential for calorie restriction mimetic therapies. The present symposium "Calorie Restriction: Effects on Body Composition, Insulin Signaling and Aging" was included in the Experimental Biology 2000 meeting held April 15-18, 2000 in San Diego, California. It is now recognized that calorie restriction carries with it many heretofore unrecognized consequences in addition to the life span-extending properties first described in the 1930s. This symposium addresses some of the current issues in calorie restriction and demonstrates the widespread effects that may underlie recidivism after weight loss, as well as the metabolically positive consequences for health of long-term calorie restraint.