Regular exercise. Experts and countless studies agree: regular exercise is probably the closes we’ll ever get to a fountain of youth. The mechanisms are multifold. Aerobic exercise helps strengthen hearts, makes arteries more flexible, lowers blood pressure and promotes healthy blood flow to the brain. Strength training preserves muscle and bone mass, which naturally declines as we age. And a 2018 health report that tracked 5,823 adults found that those who exercised the most (equal to a 30-minute jog, 5 times a week) had significantly longer telomeres–giving them a biologic aging advantage of 9 years over their sedentary counterparts. Telomeres get shorter each time a cell copies itself, but the important DNA stays intact. Eventually telomeres get too short to do their job, causing our cells to age and stop functioning properly. Therefore, telomeres act as the aging clock in every cell. Researchers believe the benefits of regular physical activity is related to the exerciser’s ability to reduce inflammation and oxidative stress.
Intermittent fasting. It may seem a little left-field, but research in lab animals has found that cutting calorie intake by 20-50%–at least occasionally–is linked to significantly longer life spans and better health measures. The connection is not well understood, but one theory suggests that when the body has less food to process, fewer inflammation-boostering free radicals are generated. Cycling periods of fasting and eating may also help increase the activity of sirtuins–enzymes that have been dubbed “longevity genes” because of their role in recruiting other cells to repair damaged DNA and restore cell vitality. A rigorous human clinical trial found that even just a 12% cut in calories, on average, was associated with a significant reduced risk of age-related diseases, such as diabetes and heart disease, compared to controls. To begin the process try an informal intermittent fasting protocol by skipping one meal daily. That said, intermittent-fasting is not for everyone and more trials in humans need to be conducted.
Plenty of sleep. While everyone’s needs are different–most adults need between 7 and 9 hours of sleep a night–getting too little shut-eye puts you at a higher risk of developing inflammation and accelerated aging. Indeed, a review of 72 studies showed that sleep problems were strongly associated with higher blood levels of inflammatory factors, such as C-reactive protein and interleukin-6.
Managing stress. When UCSF researchers analyzed blood samples from a highly stressed group–moms caring for a child with chronic illness–they found the women had significantly shorter telomeres compared to moms with healthy kids. Those who cared for their sick child for the longest period of time, or who perceived themselves as being under the most stress, had the shortest telomeres of all. There’s no way to avoid stress, but learning how to manage it can circumvent the stress-aging connection. Studies have found that techniques like meditation are associated with longer telomeres and lower levels of some markers of aging.
Cultivating social connections. Human interaction is vital to our well-being–and the same goes for our cells. A study in the journal Psychosomatic Medicine that compared blood samples from 948 older adults found that the participants with low social support–few social ties, more self-reported feelings of isolation and stress–had the shortest telomeres. On the flip side, strong social networks are a hallmark of blue zones–regions of the world with remarkable high concentrations of centenarians. So bestselling author Dan Buettner, who discovered these blue zones, advises “taking the time to go out and find–or reinforce–friendships with 2 or 3 people you can count on, on a bad day.”
Contributor: Eating Well Magazine, May 2021
