In rhesus monkeys, caloric restriction begun in adulthood reduces risk of the most common age-related conditions–diabetes, cancer, heart disease, and brain atrophy–by a third, researchers at the National Primate Research Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison report.

The incidence of both cardiovascular disease and tumors was reduced by 50 percent in the diet group. And magnetic resonance imaging showed that caloric restriction preserved gray-matter volume in the brain as the monkeys aged.