New Study Identifies the Best Diets for Slowing Your Biological Clock

Keeping your sweet tooth under control may help slow your biological clock.

Researchers looked at how different dietary habits impact cellular aging and found eating foods high in vitamins and minerals and low in added sugar has major benefits.

Their study included 342 Black and white women who filled out food records and provided saliva samples for epigenetic testing, which is used to estimate health and lifespan.

Following a Mediterranean- style diet rich in antioxidant and anti-inflammatory foods was most strongly linked to younger cells. Two other eating plans loaded with important nutrients also scored highly. But the results showed consuming foods with added sugar can speed up biological aging, even with  an otherwise healthy diet.

The senior author says, “Given that epigenetic patterns appear to be reversible, it may be that eliminating 10 grams of added sugar per day is akin to turning back the biological clock by 2.4 months, if sustained over time.”

She hopes these findings help motivate people to eat well for longevity.

Source: JAMA Open Network

Author Affiliations: UCSF, UCLA