Scientists have long known a fairly reliable way to extend the life span in lab animals. reduce the a-mount of calories they eat by 10 to 40 percent.

This strategy, known【C1】_____calorie restriction, has been shown to increase the life span of various organisms and reduce their rate of cancer and other age-related ailments.【C2】__it can do the same in people has been an open question. But an intriguing new study suggests that in young and middle-aged adults, chronically restricting calorie【C3】_____can affect their health.

In this study, researchers looked at 143 healthy men and women who【C4】________in age from 21 to 50.

They were instructed to【C5】_____calorie restriction for two years. They could eat the foods they wanted【C6】__they cut back on the total amount of food that they ate to reduce the calories they consumed by 25 percent. Many did not 【C7】_____ that goal. But the group saw many of their metabolic health markers improve【C8】________they were already in the normal range.

Some of the benefits in the calorie-restricted group【C9】_____from impressive weight loss, on average a-bout 16 pounds during the study period. But the extent to which their metabolic health got better was greater than expected from weight loss alone, 【C10】_____that calorie restriction might have some unique biological effects on disease pathways.

【C10】