A Diet Built on DNA Aging Clocks Tracks With Lower Death Risk
Graded Moderate — observational data from several large groups in the US and UK give a consistent picture, but they cannot prove cause and effect.
- Design
- Prospective cohort study
- Participants
- 4,022
- Duration
- —
- Funding
- Natural Science Foundation of Zhejiang Province
People who ate in line with a pattern built on a DNA aging clock had a 20 percent lower risk of dying in two US studies.
There are many scoring systems for healthy eating. Few were designed with biological aging in mind. A research team set out to build one. In two US studies, people who scored high on the new eating pattern had a 20 percent lower risk of dying.
The yardstick was an epigenetic clock. It estimates how old the body seems from chemical marks on DNA. Using data from 1,711 people, the team picked out the foods that went with a slower-ticking clock. High scorers were aging 4.17 years more slowly by that clock. In a separate group of 2,311 people, the gap was 3.77 years. Across US and UK groups, high scorers also had fewer age-related diseases, fewer limits in daily activities and less often several diseases at once. Blood tests and brain scans in a large UK group pointed the same way.
All of this comes from observing people. It cannot show that the eating pattern itself slows aging. High scorers may also differ in other habits.
Disclaimer: Research summaries are provided for informational purposes only and do not constitute medical advice. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making changes to your health routine.