Researchers have discovered a link between following a diet rich in vitamins and minerals and low in added sugar, and having a younger biological age at the cellular level.
The study examined how three different measures of healthy eating affected the “epigenetic clock” – a biochemical test that estimates health and lifespan.
UC San Francisco researchers found that the better people ate, the younger their cells appeared.
Even with a healthy diet, each gram of added sugar consumed was linked to an increase in their epigenetic age.
“The diets we examined align with existing recommendations for preventing disease and promoting health, highlighting the potency of antioxidant and anti-inflammatory nutrients in particular,” said Dorothy Chiu, Ph.D., a postdoctoral scholar at the UCSF Osher Centre for Integrative Health and first author of the study, published on 29th July in JAMA Network Open.
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“From a lifestyle medicine standpoint, it is empowering to see how following these recommendations may promote a younger cellular age relative to chronological age.”
Nutrients matter
Researchers analysed food records from 342 black and white women with a mean age of 39 years from Northern California.
They then compared their diets with epigenetic clock measures, derived from saliva samples.
Researchers scored the women’s diets to see how they compared to a Mediterranean-style diet rich in anti-inflammatory and antioxidant foods, and then to a diet linked to lower risk for chronic disease.
They also scored the women’s diets against a measure they created called the “Epigenetic Nutrient Index (ENI)” which is based on nutrients linked to anti-oxidative or anti-inflammatory processes and DNA maintenance and repair.
These include vitamins A, C, B12, and E, folate, selenium, magnesium, dietary fibre, and isoflavones.
Adherence to any of the diets was significantly associated with a lower epigenetic age, with the Mediterranean diet having the strongest association.
The researchers examined sugar intake separately and found that consuming foods with added sugar was associated with accelerated biological ageing, even in the presence of an otherwise healthy diet.
Women in the study reported consuming an average of 61.5 grams of added sugar per day, with a range from 2.7 to 316 grams daily.
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How much sugar should I eat?
The NHS advises that adults should have no more than 30g of free sugars a day which is roughly equivalent to 7 sugar cubes.
Children aged 7 to 10 should have no more than 24 grams of free sugars a day (6 sugar cubes).
Children aged 4 to 6 should have no more than 19 grams of free sugars a day (5 sugar cubes).
A bar of milk chocolate contains about 25 grams of added sugar, while a can of Coke can contain about 39 grams.
World-first study
This study is one of the first to show a link between added sugar and epigenetic ageing.
What’s more, it is also the first to examine the link in a diverse group of women.
Most previous studies on this topic have involved older white participants.
