Bodybuilding will reduce your life expectancy?
[quote]In addition to genetic ties to lifespan, diet has been shown to substantially affect lifespan in many animals. Specifically, caloric restriction (that is, restricting calories to 30-50% less than an ad libitum animal would consume, while still maintaining proper nutrient intake), has been shown to increase lifespan in mice up to 50%. Caloric restriction works on many other species beyond mice (including species as diverse as yeast and Drosophila), and appears (though the data is not conclusive) to increase lifespan in primates according to a study done on Rhesus monkeys at the National Institute of Health (US), although the increase in lifespan is only notable if the caloric restriction is started early in life. Since, at the molecular level, age is counted not as time but as the number of cell doublings, this effect of calorie reduction could be mediated by the slowing of cellular growth and, therefore, the lengthening of the time between cell divisions.[/quote]
Basically if the bodybuilding concept is caloric excess to promote cellular growth, and our biological age is determined by cell growth and death, then is it reasonable to assume the constant growth that bodybuilders experience will cause premature cell aging?
This is of course ignoring the the health benefits of exercise that is is generally above average, and the the more than likely better nutrition that bodybuilders are educated on.