posted by Edward Casanova | Dec 11, 2019
In a previous post, I discussed different factors that may influence the rate of our aging.
But, what about the ones that may benefit us?
Perhaps, it’s time to take a look at our diets and specific biomarkers, such as the “Telomere length” in our DNA, which reflects biological aging and may be influenced by environmental factors, including those that affect inflammatory processes. [1]
Data have shown that telomere attrition is associated with greater risk of various chronic diseases, including hypertension, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. [1]
In addition to this, there’s a plethora of evidence that a diet high in saturated fats, red and processed meats are associated with an increased risk of different types of cancer. [2,3,4]
However, we still have the upper hand when it comes to other food alternatives such as whole grains, fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds which compared to red meat showed anti-oxidative and anti-inflammatory effects. [1]
In contrast, trans fatty acid intake and dietary patterns high in foods known to provide significant amounts of trans and saturated fats (animal foods) were positively associated with biomarkers of inflammation. [5,6,7]
Even coffee has shown potential towards reducing inflammation [8]. Although it may be better to consume it black and from the most organic sources to reduce the risks of counteracting its benefits.
The people in this study [1] who were consuming whole grains, fruits and vegetables, nuts or seeds showed longer telomeres compared to those including red meat in their diets.
In their conclusion the marked:
Our finding that processed meat consumption was associated with shorter telomeres is consistent with studies showing associations between greater intake of processed meat and risk of cancer [9] and diabetes (10-12) and with studies showing associations between red meat intake and CVD (13,14), all diseases with frequencies that increase with age. [1]
##A green alternative
It was about time to mention one of the greatest WFPB heroes out there with a study [15] to back the claims on how a diet based around plants can show longer telomeres and slower rates of shortening over time.
30 men with biopsy-diagnosed low-risk prostate cancer were asked to make comprehensive lifestyle changes. The primary endpoint was telomerase enzymatic activity per viable cell, measured at baseline and after 3 months. 24 patients had sufficient PBMCs needed for longitudinal analysis. [15]
And what happened at the end of the study may shock your average omnivore. However, for a WFPB, this is just old news.
PBMC telomerase activity expressed as natural logarithms increased from 2·00 (SD 0·44) to 2·22 (SD 0·49; p=0·031). Raw values of telomerase increased from 8·05 (SD 3·50) standard arbitrary units to 10·38 (SD 6·01) standard arbitrary units. The increases in telomerase activity were significantly associated with decreases in low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol (r=–0·36, p=0·041) and a decrease in psychological distress (r=–0·35, p=0·047). [15]
Nonetheless, it is worth knowing that this intervention was not in a controlled environment and also there may be a lot of confounding factors because of the complexity of it.
Besides lifestyle modifications such as a whole foods, plant-based diet, high in fruits, low in fat (10% of calories from fat) with vegetables, unrefined grains, legumes, and low in refined carbohydrates; moderate aerobic exercise (walking 30 min/day, 6 days/week); stress management (gentle yoga-based stretching, breathing, meditation, imagery, and progressive relaxation techniques 60 min/day, 6 days/week), and a 1-h group support session once per week were part of the intervention.
The diet was also supplemented with soy (one daily serving of tofu plus 58 g of a fortified soy protein powdered beverage), fish oil (3 g daily), vitamin E (100 IU daily), selenium (200 μg daily), and vitamin C (2 g daily). [15]
Despite this, these aren’t strategies that we can’t apply in our everyday lives. With a lot of evidence packing against animal foods and a bunch other showing more benefits with a WFPB diet, it’s a no brainer to pick the right choice.
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Next: Going Back In Time
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