Telomores and aging

The anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties of plant-based diets may explain why they can effectively reverse cellular aging by elongating telomeres.

Telomeres are structures found at the end of chromosomes that guard the stability of the genetic information of an individual. In mammals, they are the major determinants of aging and longevity. Studies have shown the connection between the length of telomeres and life expectancy, stress, DNA damage, and diseases. Therefore, our lifestyle and health choices influence telomeres metabolism, slow or speed up their deterioration, accelerate or diminish our aging, and extend or shorten our life span.  

Telomeres are dynamic structures as they shorten with each cell division and every signal short telomere is treated as DNA damage which induces cell cycle arrest-senescence. Accumulation of such cells is the main cause of aging. Preventing senesces can postpone and even reverse aging and aging related diseases.

Overall, the findings highlight an association of increased biological aging in U.S. adults who consumed high-fat milk.

Tucker L. A. (2018). Dietary Fiber and Telomere Length in 5674 U.S. Adults: An NHANES Study of Biological Aging. Nutrients, 10(4), 400. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu10040400

With age, gender, race, housing status, and misreported energy intake controlled, the relationship between fiber intake per 1000 kcal and telomere length was linear. Specifically, for each 1 g increment in fiber intake per 1000 kcal, telomeres were 8.3 base pairs longer.

results indicated that a 100 g (3.5 oz) per day increment in F&V corresponded with 1.9 years less biological aging. When the 75th percentile of F&V intake was compared to the 25th, the difference was 4.4 years of cellular aging. When separated by sex, fruits and vegetables were both related to telomere length in women, but only vegetable intake was predictive of telomere length in men. In conclusion, evidence based on a random sample of U.S. adults indicates that the more the servings of F&V, the longer telomeres tend to be.

References

Tucker L. A. (2021). Fruit and Vegetable Intake and Telomere Length in a Random Sample of 5448 U.S. Adults. Nutrients, 13(5), 1415. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu13051415

Galiè, S., Canudas, S., Muralidharan, J., García-Gavilán, J., Bulló, M., & Salas-Salvadó, J. (2020). Impact of Nutrition on Telomere Health: Systematic Review of Observational Cohort Studies and Randomized Clinical Trials. Advances in nutrition (Bethesda, Md.), 11(3), 576–601. https://doi.org/10.1093/advances/nmz107

Crous-Bou, M., Molinuevo, J. L., & Sala-Vila, A. (2019). Plant-Rich Dietary Patterns, Plant Foods and Nutrients, and Telomere Length. Advances in nutrition (Bethesda, Md.), 10(Suppl_4), S296–S303. https://doi.org/10.1093/advances/nmz026

Tucker L. A. (2019). Milk Fat Intake and Telomere Length in U.S. Women and Men: The Role of the Milk Fat Fraction. Oxidative medicine and cellular longevity, 2019, 1574021.https://doi.org/10.1155/2019/1574021