The Hunger Games as the Key to Happily Ever After?

This article reviews the current state of research on calorie restriction (CR)—the reduction of calorie intake without malnutrition—and its effects on organismal longevity and senescence. Analyzing 224 peer-reviewed studies, it finds that CR research overwhelmingly focuses on short-lived species (98.2%), with limited investigation of long-lived species, and that experimental conditions often lack ecological realism, such as stochastic environments and interactions with factors like temperature. The review highlights inconsistencies in CR outcomes across species, partly due to variable protocols and insufficient consideration of life-history traits, reproductive versus actuarial senescence, and environmental complexity. It advocates for standardized methodologies and expanded research on both short- and long-lived species under more naturalistic conditions to better understand CR's role in aging, with implications for human health and ecological systems amid global change.