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Lifestyle Changes = Longer Telomere Lengths
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Whenever someone reaches their 100th birthday, reporters will inevitably show up to ask the same question: How did you do it?
The answers are as different as the people themselves. Actor Kirk Douglas thanked his wife. Jean Dawson, a great grandmother in England, credited her weekly yoga routine. Pauline Spagnola of Pennsylvania said she got to 100 with the help of “a lot of booze.”
While there may not be any one answer for living to 100, we do have some idea for how to live longer and to live well. There’s a difference between our chronological age (the amount of time we’ve been alive) and our biological age (how well your body is functioning relative to your chronological age).
One of the ways we can measure our biological age is through telomere length assessment. Telomeres are protective caps on the ends of our chromosomes. They get shorter as we age, but the rate of our telomere shortening can depend on the type of life we lead.
Stress, an unhealthy diet and a lack of exercise can all speed up the rate of telomere shortening, just as lifestyle changes that are good for you can prevent telomere shortening.
Here are a few tips on how to effectively manage your rate biological aging
1. Reduce Stress
Numerous studies have linked chronic stress to increased rates of telomere shortening. In 2004, molecular biologist Elizabeth Blackburn – who won a Nobel Prize for her telomere research – and APS Fellow Elissal Epel led a study that looked at women who were mothers of healthy children and those who were caring for children with a chronic illness. On average, the moms in the second group had telomere lengths that were 10 years shorter than the women in the first group.
If you feel stressed, getting regular exercise, finding time for yourself and getting a good night’s sleep can all help to reduce tension.
2. Regular Exercise
There are many good reasons to exercise, including the effect regular workouts have on our telomere length. A 2015 study by researchers at the University of Mississippi found that people who got some level of regular exercise were less likely to have very short telomeres than people who got no exercise at all. The more a person exercised, the study found, the longer the telomeres.
3. Vitamins and Antioxidants
By eating foods that are high in antioxidants – such as berries and artichokes – you can slow down aging and reduce cell damage.
In addition to antioxidants, taking a multivitamin can also markedly reduce the rate of telomere shortening. A study published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that women who took a daily vitamin supplement had telomeres that were roughly 5 percent longer than those who took no vitamins.
But just taking vitamins may not be enough. The same study noted that participants who took a multivitamin but also ate foods rich in vitamins C and E also had longer telomeres. You can find vitamin C in citrus fruits, peppers and kale, and vitamin E in spinach, almonds and sweet potatoes.
4. Yoga and Meditation
Maybe Jean Dawson, the centenarian in England, had the right idea. In a study conducted in 2014 by the Tom Baker Cancer Center and the University of Calgary, a group of breast cancer survivors who meditated and practiced yoga saw no change to their telomere length. A control group, who did neither yoga or meditation, experienced telomere shortening. This is in line with other studies which found a connection between yoga and longer telomeres.
whats your Biological age? You can answer that question with tests now being developed for market. Advances in telomere science will allow you to measure the length of your telomeres to gauge the effect of the changes you make to your lifestyle, and track your progress to better health.
iStock-596804694_edited.jpg
Whenever someone reaches their 100th birthday, reporters will inevitably show up to ask the same question: How did you do it?
The answers are as different as the people themselves. Actor Kirk Douglas thanked his wife. Jean Dawson, a great grandmother in England, credited her weekly yoga routine. Pauline Spagnola of Pennsylvania said she got to 100 with the help of “a lot of booze.”
While there may not be any one answer for living to 100, we do have some idea for how to live longer and to live well. There’s a difference between our chronological age (the amount of time we’ve been alive) and our biological age (how well your body is functioning relative to your chronological age).
One of the ways we can measure our biological age is through telomere length assessment. Telomeres are protective caps on the ends of our chromosomes. They get shorter as we age, but the rate of our telomere shortening can depend on the type of life we lead.
Stress, an unhealthy diet and a lack of exercise can all speed up the rate of telomere shortening, just as lifestyle changes that are good for you can prevent telomere shortening.
Here are a few tips on how to effectively manage your rate biological aging
1. Reduce Stress
Numerous studies have linked chronic stress to increased rates of telomere shortening. In 2004, molecular biologist Elizabeth Blackburn – who won a Nobel Prize for her telomere research – and APS Fellow Elissal Epel led a study that looked at women who were mothers of healthy children and those who were caring for children with a chronic illness. On average, the moms in the second group had telomere lengths that were 10 years shorter than the women in the first group.If you feel stressed, getting regular exercise, finding time for yourself and getting a good night’s sleep can all help to reduce tension.
2. Regular Exercise
There are many good reasons to exercise, including the effect regular workouts have on our telomere length. A 2015 study by researchers at the University of Mississippi found that people who got some level of regular exercise were less likely to have very short telomeres than people who got no exercise at all. The more a person exercised, the study found, the longer the telomeres.
3. Vitamins and Antioxidants
By eating foods that are high in antioxidants – such as berries and artichokes – you can slow down aging and reduce cell damage.
In addition to antioxidants, taking a multivitamin can also markedly reduce the rate of telomere shortening. A study published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that women who took a daily vitamin supplement had telomeres that were roughly 5 percent longer than those who took no vitamins.
But just taking vitamins may not be enough. The same study noted that participants who took a multivitamin but also ate foods rich in vitamins C and E also had longer telomeres. You can find vitamin C in citrus fruits, peppers and kale, and vitamin E in spinach, almonds and sweet potatoes.
4. Yoga and Meditation
Maybe Jean Dawson, the centenarian in England, had the right idea. In a study conducted in 2014 by the Tom Baker Cancer Center and the University of Calgary, a group of breast cancer survivors who meditated and practiced yoga saw no change to their telomere length. A control group, who did neither yoga or meditation, experienced telomere shortening. This is in line with other studies which found a connection between yoga and longer telomeres.
whats your Biological age? You can answer that question with tests now being developed for market. Advances in telomere science will allow you to measure the length of your telomeres to gauge the effect of the changes you make to your lifestyle, and track your progress to better health.
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