Diet and exercise strategies that may lower your “biological age”

New Year's resolutions to eat healthier and exercise more may have benefits beyond physical fitness and weight loss: A series of studies published last year suggest that certain diet and exercise regimens may help. It suggests that there is a gender Lowering a person's “biological age.”

This term refers not to the number of birthdays, but to an indicator of a person's physiological health. While this measurement cannot predict an individual's life expectancy, the idea is that it can tell you what stage of the aging process a person's body is in based on factors such as cell damage, organ function, cholesterol, and blood pressure levels. is to evaluate.

Recent research provides additional evidence that certain habits are already known to be healthy, including: plant based diet, stay active Do it throughout the day and every week. strength training — You may be able to avoid the negative health effects of aging.

But biological aging is a complex process, and experts warn that stress, chronic illness, smoking and personal genetics can all complicate the situation. Additionally, they said, there are many reasons to get regular exercise and eat a nutritious diet besides turning back your body clock.

Nevertheless, here's what five studies published last year found about the link between diet, exercise, and aging.

Eat more plants and less junk food

Growing evidence suggests that plant based diet Might be helpful slow biological aging.

Research published in October They investigated the effects of a vegan diet on 22 pairs of identical twins. The researchers assigned one of the twins to a vegan meal plan, while the other ate an omnivorous diet that included meat, eggs, dairy, and plants.

At the end of the eight weeks, the researchers determined the twins' biological ages based on their telomeres, the protective caps at the ends of chromosomes that shorten as we age. Over time, this shortening prevents cells from dividing, increasing the risk of illness and death. The study also measured changes in participants' DNA methylation, a method cells use to control gene expression, which is strongly correlated with aging.

The results showed that twins who followed a vegan diet experienced a significant decrease in biological age compared to the omnivorous group.

Christopher Gardner, one of the study authors, said vegan diets include more nutrient-dense foods such as vegetables, beans and whole grains, and are also lower in saturated fat. But it's not clear which aspects of diet slow the aging process or how long the effects last, he added.

“You can't just do this for eight weeks and suddenly look younger,” says Dr. Gardner, a nutritional scientist at Stanford University.

Additionally, not all vegan meals are equally healthy (fries and soda are technically vegan, after all). Gardner suggested a simple rule of thumb: eat more plants and less junk food.

surely, July research Higher intakes of antioxidant and anti-inflammatory foods, such as vegetables, olive oil, whole grains, and seafood, are associated with younger biological age, whereas higher intake of sugar is associated with younger biological age. It turns out that it goes up.

another study He pointed out the benefits of using only a small portion of calorie-restricted, plant-based therapies. In a group of 100 adult participants, researchers put some participants on a strict diet for five consecutive days a month for three months, then ate normally for the rest of the month. I asked him to do so. On the day of the diet, calorie intake was restricted to 700–1,100 calories per day, and all meals were prepared and served to participants in advance. The kit included things like vegetable soup, nut bars, and herbal tea. Other study participants simply continued with their usual pattern for three full months.

Researchers assessed people's biological age based on several health indicators, including cholesterol and blood pressure. The results showed that the group who incorporated a plant-based diet into their monthly habits were two and a half years younger at their biological age than when they started, regardless of whether they lost weight during the study period. Ta.

“Every physician in the United States, this should be part of your toolkit,” said Valter Longo, director of the USC Longevity Institute and one of the study authors.

Longo said his research shows that the special five-day diet he studied could help generate new healthy cells, reduce insulin resistance and, as a result, lower blood sugar levels. He said that it suggests. Such therapies are likely to make the biggest difference for people with diabetes, obesity or overweight, he added.

Daily walks and weekly strength training

nevertheless It's long been known that exercise improves brain health, Research published in October found that even small amounts of physical activity can reduce a person's “cognitive age,” or how young a person is based on their mental acuity.

The study involved more than 200 middle-aged New Yorkers who were prompted to log their physical activity over the past three-and-a-half hours several times a day using a smartphone app. Immediately afterwards, they were asked to play “brain games'' that measured cognitive function, such as matching tiles with different symbols. The speed at which participants solved the game was used as a measure of brain age.

“Generally, as cognitive abilities age, people's reactions slow down,” said study author Jonathan Hakun, a professor of neurology at Penn State University. “Sometime in midlife, we think around your 60s or 70s, you start to see a slightly more rapid change in your ability to quickly solve these problems.”

The study found that people who recently engaged in physical activity had brains that were four years younger and had faster mental speed than those who had been inactive for a period of time. The activities may have been as simple as walking the dog, doing housework, or playing with the children.

Hakun said the finding could be due to physical activity that excited the central nervous system.

“When we engage in physical activity in our daily lives, we may be more prepared or ready to respond when a puzzle or problem arises,” he said. .

This year's study also found a link between certain types of exercise and a decrease in biological age. a study A paper published in October found that doing 90 minutes of strength training (exercise such as using weights or resistance to strengthen muscles) each week can reduce your biological age by nearly four years.

The findings are based on 4,800 responses to the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, an ongoing survey conducted by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Adults who reported engaging in regular strength training had significantly longer telomeres than those who did not, suggesting that they were younger in biological age.

However, Hakun says the benefits of exercise go far beyond cognitive function, as regular physical activity is known to reduce blood sugar levels and heart disease risk factors, as well as having many other positive effects. He emphasized that it exceeds that.

“People have viewed physical activity as a keystone behavior important for all aspects of health,” he says. “I have rarely come across a project where physical activity has negative effects.”