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A new study from the University of East Anglia suggests that changing from a restricted diet to eating as much as you please could be good for reproduction later in life.
The eating and mating habits of the fly were studied.
They found that females who ate less food for their entire lives lived longer, but they didn't reproduce as well as their better-fed counterparts.
Those who switched from a restricted diet to unlimited food started reproducing more. The flies produced more offspring than those kept on a restricted diet.
Their survival was similar to that of females that had been fed their entire lives.
Dr. Zahida Sultanova is from the UEA's School of Biological Sciences.
We wanted to find out what happens when you restrict your diet early in life and then eat a lot later in life.
The team looked at the effects of early life diet restriction on fruit flies.
Some people were given enough food, but others were put on a restricted diet with less yeast.
A third group of people were put on a restricted diet in early life, and then allowed to consume as much as they wanted.
Dr. Sultanova said, "Dietary restriction is associated with better health and reduced reproduction."
When flies were switched from a restricted diet to a normal one, they started reproducing more, and their survival became similar to fully-fed females.
Fruit flies show that females reproduce little while they are eating little, but they maintain their reproductive health, and when they have unlimited food late in life, they immediately start reproducing a lot.
It has been shown that a rich diet late in life can fully compensate for reduced reproduction due to eating less early in life.
There are ethical and logistical limitations to studies on reproductive health in humans.
The results of studies in model organisms suggest that it is worth exploring further using approaches that are more suitable to humans.
The journal "Proceedings of the Royal Society B" published "Fitness benefits of dietary restriction".
More information about fitness benefits of diet restriction.
The Royal Society B has a journal.
How eating less in early life could help with reproduction later on was retrieved 24 November 2021.
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