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Comment by jcutrell | Hacker News Reader

How does this square with the fact that isoleucine is important for muscle mass development?

Wild-assed guess: the benefits of increased muscle mass and bone density matter much more to humans than they do to mice. We are large and heavy, while mice are small and light.

It doesn't. And honestly the result should be treated skeptically until someone replicates it.

Mice studies like this have a ton caveats: the animal lives 3 years versus the human 100 years.

Research like this is better for understanding biochemical pathways then whole organism affects, especially since "aging" isn't a well defined phenomenon (it's a grab bag of other things we want to prevent).

Apparently it wasn't an issue? The article says mice on the low-isoleucine diet did better on muscle strength.

That muscle mass development has nothing to do with living healthier or longer?

Well it's correlated, in that the resistance training associated with developing muscle mass also increases bone density and other factors that lead to living longer. Curious what would happen if you did resistance training while simultaneously stunting the development of muscle. Would you still get the same health benefits?

we don't need much muscle

We really do. Especially as we age, maintaining a large amount of lean muscle is essential for metabolic health and preventing disabling injuries.

https://gabriellereece.com/muscle-as-the-cornerstone-of-long...

https://peterattiamd.com/outlive/

"maintaining a large amount of lean muscle is essential" I doubt about this. Maintaining exercise sure, maintaining low fat tissue sure, mintaining essential muscles comes as a result of daily activity: walking, using less devices and more manual processes, taking stairs rather than elevators, this makes more sense than going to gym, because diverse muscles work, in a more natural and physiological way

Look at centarians profiles, they're light, active, and not eating a lot (very little meat, mostly plant based)

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