Sugar Accelerates The Aging Process: Study
California researchers find that women who eat well are better able to maintain their youthfulness.
By: Huey Freeman | The Epoch Times
Researchers have found that a more nutritious diet lacking in excess sugar can lead to a younger biological age in the body’s cells.
“Promotion of healthy diets aligned with chronic disease prevention and decreased added sugar consumption may support slower cellular aging relative to chronological age,” wrote authors of the study, published Monday in JAMA Network Open.
Researchers at the University of California–San Fransisco (UCSF) studied a mixture of 342 middle-aged black and white women to determine how different diets affected the aging of their cells. They used “epigenetic clocks” to evaluate gene activity to estimate a person’s biological health and possible lifespan.
Even when the women ate healthy diets, their epigenetic age increased with each gram of sugar they consumed, the study found.
The study advanced researchers’ understanding of why sugar is so damaging to health, Elissa Epel, a professor in the UCSF Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and a study co-author, said in a press release.
“We knew that high levels of added sugars are linked to worsened metabolic health and early disease, possibly more than any other dietary factor,” Ms. Epel said. “Now we know that accelerated epigenetic aging is underlying this relationship, and this is likely one of many ways that excessive sugar intake limits healthy longevity.”
Just as we age biologically according to our birthdates, scientists have determined we also have epigenetic ages. Older people who function as if they are younger—with the mental and physical abilities associated with younger people—have a younger epigenetic age.
Women With More Nutritious Diets Stayed Epigenetically Younger
Women’s diets were scored compared to a Mediterranean-style diet, which the researchers said promotes slower cellular aging because it contains anti-inflammatory and antioxidant foods. These diets were also compared to a diet known for its low risk of chronic disease.
The diets were also assessed for nutrients such as vitamins A, C, B12, and E and magnesium, selenium, folate, and dietary fibre. These nutrients are linked to DNA maintenance and repair, as well as antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.
Those who adhered to any of the nutritious diets had significantly lower epigenetic ages. The Mediterranean diet produced the best results.
The authors found that with every point gained by adhering to the Mediterranean diet, the women had a 0.41 decrease in epigenetic clock years—the most significant reduction observed among the diets investigated.
Antioxidant foods are linked to a slower aging process, though direct evidence and understanding of their effects are lacking.
Excess Sugar Consumption & Disease
Sugar is not always detrimental to health. The human body requires glucose, a form of sugar, for survival. The body produces glucose from foods. There are two types of sugars: natural sugars, like those found in fruit and milk, and added sugars, including raw sugar, high-fructose corn syrup, refined sugar, and honey. The added sugars—found mainly in beverages, desserts, candy, and snacks—are the harmful ones, the authors found.
“Sugar is an established pro-inflammatory and oxidative agent that has been implicated in cancer as well as cardiometabolic diseases,” they wrote in the study. Inflammation and oxidation have been shown to promote cellular aging.
Too much sugar can cause chronic inflammation, which could lead to disease, researchers concluded in a 2014 study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. “Sugar-sweetened soda consumption is consistently associated with an increased risk of several chronic inflammatory diseases such as type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases,” the authors wrote. They also found that regular consumption of sweetened drinks is linked to an increased risk of rheumatoid arthritis in women.
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NEXT UP!
Are You Addicted To Sugar? 4 Tips On Kicking The Habit
Given the stresses in today’s everyday life, a reward or treat throughout the day can boost our energy levels and soothe our nerves. However, when that boost is in the form of sugar, the energizing and mood-elevating effects are short-lived—while beneath the surface its addictive qualities and negative health effects are taking root.
A growing body of research suggests that sugar may be as addictive as some drugs and have similar adverse effects on the brain.
A review performed by Princeton University, published in the journal Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews shows that mice given intermittent access to food and sugar solutions exhibit a range of behavioral and brain changes similar to mice on voluntarily self-administered addictive drugs. Such characteristics suggest sugar may be as addictive as drugs.
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READ MORE: The Sugar And Cancer Connection: Why Sugar Is Called “The White Death”
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