An 8-week methylation-supportive diet and lifestyle program was found to significantly decrease biological age in a case series of women, suggesting that such interventions may affect underlying mechanisms of aging rather than disease-driven aging, and be effective for both sexes.
A new research paper published in the journal Aging examines the impact of a special diet/lifestyle program.
A case series of six women who underwent a methylation-supportive diet and lifestyle program, aimed at affecting DNA methylation and measures of biological aging, was reported on by researchers Kara N. Fitzgerald, Tish Campbell, Suzanne Makarem, and Romilly Hodges. These researchers are associated with the Institute for Functional Medicine, Virginia Commonwealth University, and the American Nutrition Association.
“The modifiable lifestyle intervention used by participants in this case series was first investigated in a pilot clinical trial in which participants (all men between the ages of 50-72 years) reduced their biological age by an average of 3.23 years as compared to controls. The case series reported on herein was conducted to further the investigation of a modifiable lifestyle intervention that was largely the same in other populations; importantly in women.”
The team carried out an intervention consisting of an eight-week program. This program included guidance on diet, sleep, exercise, and relaxation, supplemental probiotics and phytonutrients, and nutritional coaching. DNA methylation and biological age analysis (Horvath DNAmAge clock (2013), normalized using the SeSAMe pipeline) were conducted on blood samples at baseline and at the end of the eight-week period.
Five of the six participants exhibited a biological age reduction of between 1.22 and 11.01 years from their baseline biological age. There was a statistically significant (p=.039) difference in the participants’ mean biological age before (55.83 years) and after (51.23 years) the 8-week diet and lifestyle intervention, with an average decrease of 4.60 years. The average chronological age at the start of the program was 57.9 years and all but one participant had a biological age younger than their chronological age at the start of the program, suggesting that biological age changes were unrelated to disease improvement and instead might be attributed to underlying aging mechanisms.
“This case series of women participants extends the previous pilot study of this intervention in men, indicating that favorable biological age changes may be achievable in both sexes. In addition, the investigation of otherwise-healthy individuals, rather than those with diagnosed disease, suggests an influence directly on underlying mechanisms of aging instead of disease-driven aging.”
