Lifestyle Changes Can Reverse the Aging Process: Study Finds

New research shows that lifestyle changes in diet, sleep and exercise, combined with interventions such as relaxation exercises and supplements, can reverse the aging process.

In an eight-week study, six women, ages 46 to 65, underwent a program that included changes in diet, sleep and exercise, and were given relaxation guidance and probiotic and phytonutrient supplements.

Blood tests showed a reduction in biological age of up to 11 years in five of the six participants, with an average reduction of 4.6 years.

The researchers, from the Universities of Washington, Virginia, and Illinois, write that the average chronological age of the participants at the start of the study was 58, and their biological age was younger than all but one. satisfactory, but the improvement may be attributed to underlying age mechanisms.

Vegetables (expressive – Shutterstock)

Biological age versus chronological age

As reported by Northwestern Medicince, the difference in biological age and chronology is simply that chronological age is how long a person lives, while biological age is “how old are the cells of his body.”

epigenetic age

According to the US National Institutes of Health, biological age is also referred to as epigenetic age. The epigenome consists “of chemical compounds that modify or specify the genome in a way that tells it what to do, where to do it, and when to do it.” These changes, which are affected by environmental factors such as stress, diet, medications and pollution, can be passed from cell to cell as it divides and from generation to generation.

As the results of the current study show, it can be reversible as a result of lifestyle changes. Participants were asked to eat the following foods daily:

• 2 cups of dark leafy vegetables
• 2 cups of cruciferous vegetables
• 3 cups of colored vegetables
• Half a cup of pumpkin seeds
• Half a cup of sunflower seeds
• 1-2 beetroots
Liver or liver supplements (three servings per week)
• 1 serving of eggs (5-10 per week)

A plate of blueberries – iStock

They were also asked to eat two daily servings of methyltransferases, foods that support DNA methylation, a process that controls gene expression. Examples of one serving of these foods include:

• Half a cup of berries, preferably wild
• 2 medium sized garlic cloves
Two cups of green tea, steeped for 10 minutes
• 3 cups of oolong tea, brewed for 10 minutes
• ½ teaspoon rosemary
• ½ teaspoon turmeric

Participants were also asked to make the following daily lifestyle modifications:

• Take two probiotic capsules
• Take two servings of “green powder”
• Drink 8 glasses of water daily
• Exercise for at least 30 minutes
• Practice breathing exercises twice
• Sleep at least 7 hours
• Fasting 12 hours after the last meal of the day

None of the women completed all the tasks throughout the day, the researchers wrote, and that’s okay, as improvements in biological age were seen among women who joined the program an average of 82% of the time.

The researchers added that the relatively high level of adherence among the patients was due in large part to the nutritional training provided.

Effect of stress on biological age

There was a seventh participant in the study who had to withdraw due to a family emergency. Before the study, her chronological age was 71 and her biological age was 57.6. Her biological age was tested again eight weeks later, despite her withdrawal from the study, and it was found to have increased to 61.6 years.

Previous research documents a “sudden acceleration in biological age due to various stressful events.” Although aging reverses when the stress wears off, for some, the effect of stress on aging is permanent rather than just a passing phase, according to recent research presented at the European Conference. For Psychiatry in Paris, patients with long-term mental health conditions, such as depression, anxiety, and bipolar disorder, face an older biological age than their chronological age.

Read also