Iron-Deplete Diet Enhances Caenorhabditis Elegans Lifespan Via Oxidative Stress Response Pathways
Our gut microbes play a significant role in how long we live, but the exact ways they do this are often a mystery. A recent study explored this by looking at tiny worms called Caenorhabditis elegans, which are often used in aging research. Researchers found that certain changes in the worms’ diet, specifically those leading to less iron, could make them live longer.
These special diets caused a mild form of “oxidative stress” in the worms, which is like a slight imbalance in the cell’s chemistry that can sometimes trigger protective responses. It also activated something called the “mitochondrial unfolded protein response” (UPRmt), a cellular alarm system that helps cells deal with stress in their energy-producing compartments, the mitochondria. The key finding was that these effects were directly linked to a reduction in available iron. When iron was added back to the diet, the lifespan extension and the stress responses disappeared. This suggests that the amount of iron in our diet, and how our gut microbes interact with it, could be a crucial factor in the aging process. Essentially, limiting dietary iron appears to kickstart protective mechanisms that promote a longer life.
Source: link to paper