Food vs. Health

SEATTLE: Little did Mom know that when she made you clean your plate she might be taking years off your life. Researchers have long known that lab rats who eat less live longer. But a new study may show that primates -- perhaps even people -- also live longer, healthier lives if they consume fewer calories per day. The theory is that lowering calories resets the body's metabolism so that it operates more efficiently. A 10-year study of rhesus and squirrel monkeys found that the underfed animals have lower blood pressure and better cholesterol. Perhaps the most striking finding: underfed animals look as though they will be protected from heart disease. Their levels of high-density lipoprotein -- the good cholesterol that helps keep blood flowing smoothly through the arteries -- are twice as high as in monkeys who eat a normal diet, meaning more food. The downside, of course, is that the healthier monkeys appeared to be hungry much of the time.