Older Australians who reduce\u00a0either\u00a0dietary fat or animal-based protein show signs of reduced biological age, new research from the University of Sydney shows.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Published in\u00a0Aging Cell,\u00a0the findings\u00a0revealed\u00a065- to 75-year-olds\u00a0subjected to dietary intervention for just four weeks showed a reduction in ‘biological age’ based on their biomarker<\/a> profile. Led\u00a0by\u00a0Dr\u00a0Caitlin Andrews\u00a0from the University of Sydney’s\u00a0School of Life and Environmental Sciences, the research highlights the potential for dietary interventions to rapidly improve health and aging outcomes in older age.\u00a0It\u00a0offers\u00a0a\u00a0preliminary\u00a0indication\u00a0rather than a conclusive result, with the authors\u00a0calling for\u00a0longer-term\u00a0trials to test whether these\u00a0improvements\u00a0translate into reduced disease risk and whether the\u00a0findings\u00a0extend to other\u00a0age groups.\u00a0<\/p>\n While chronological age increases uniformly, biological\u00a0aging\u00a0varies between individuals, reflecting differences in health status and\u00a0the body’s\u00a0resilience.\u00a0Scientists\u00a0can\u00a0estimate biological age using biomarker profiles,\u00a0measures of\u00a0physiological function over time\u00a0which are\u00a0often considered a better indicator of overall health and potential longevity than chronological age.\u00a0<\/p>\n The research\u00a0integrated\u00a0data\u00a0from 20 different biomarkers\u00a0–\u00a0including\u00a0blood\u00a0levels of\u00a0cholesterol,\u00a0insulin\u00a0and C-reactive protein\u00a0–\u00a0to calculate a biological age score for participants\u00a0in\u00a0the Nutrition for Healthy Living study,\u00a0undertaken at the University’s\u00a0Charles Perkins Centre.\u00a0<\/p>\n In the\u00a0Nutrition for Healthy Living\u00a0study,\u00a0104 participants were\u00a0randomly assigned to\u00a0one of four diets,\u00a0each deriving 14 percent of energy from protein.\u00a0Two\u00a0were omnivorous\u00a0(half\u00a0coming from animal\u00a0sources and the rest from\u00a0plants)\u00a0and\u00a0two were semi-vegetarian\u00a0(with\u00a070 percent\u00a0of protein\u00a0coming\u00a0from plant sources).\u00a0Within the omnivorous and semi-vegetarian categories\u00a0participants\u00a0were then\u00a0assigned to diets\u00a0either\u00a0high in fat and low in carbohydrates or low in fat and\u00a0high in\u00a0carbohydrates,\u00a0resulting in four categories of diet: omnivorous high-fat (OHF), omnivorous high-carbohydrate (OHC), semi-vegetarian high-fat (VHF), or semi-vegetarian high-carbohydrate (VHC).\u00a0<\/p>\n Participants’ BMI (body mass index) ranged from 20-35.\u00a0All participants\u00a0were non-smokers, non-vegetarians and had no serious complications (e.g., type-2 diabetes mellitus, cancers, renal or liver disease) or food allergies and\/or intolerances.\u00a0<\/p>\n The OHF group, whose amended diets most closely resembled participants’ baseline diets, showed no meaningful change in the ‘biological age’ of their biomarker profile. However, the biological age of the biomarker profile for\u00a0those\u00a0in\u00a0the remaining\u00a0three\u00a0groups showed reductions. The reduction in biological age among the OHC group \u2013 those who ate omnivorous diets high in carbohydrates<\/a> \u2013 was estimated with the highest degree of statistical confidence.\u00a0This group’s diet\u00a0comprised\u00a014\u00a0percent of energy from protein, 28-29 percent\u00a0from fat,\u00a0and 53 percent from carbohydrates.\u00a0<\/p>\n It is unclear whether the impact of dietary changes on age-related biomarker profiles is enduring and results in sustained biological age reversal.\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n Longer term dietary changes are needed to assess whether dietary changes alter the risk of age-related diseases.”<\/p>\n
Alistair Senior, Associate Professor, School of Life and Environmental Sciences\u00a0and the Charles Perkins Centre<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n “It’s\u00a0too soon to say definitively that specific changes to diet will extend your life. But this research offers an early\u00a0indication\u00a0of the\u00a0potential\u00a0benefits of dietary changes\u00a0later in life,” said Dr Andrews.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0“Future research should explore whether these findings extend to other cohorts and whether the changes recorded are sustained or predictive of long-term outcomes.”<\/p>\n Source:<\/p>\n Journal reference:<\/p>\n
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