Aging healthily: Fasting can slow aging

A healthy diet is said to have a positive effect on aging.

At the same time, reducing calories can slow down the pace of life.

Even if aging cannot yet be measured, there are now a number of molecular biological markers that scientists can use to at least assess the biological age of people.

This was also used by a research team led by Dr.

Daniel Belsky from Columbia University in New York.

The members investigated how calorie restriction can have a positive effect on the aging process.

It was shown that after two years of fasting, the rate of aging in the subjects slowed down.

Aging healthily: calorie restriction and fasting slow down the pace of aging

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According to a study by scientists from the USA, fasting should be able to slow down the pace of life.

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220 healthy men and women participated in the CALERIE (Comprehensive Assessment of Long-Term Effects of Reducing Intake of Energy) study.

Half of the subjects consumed 25 percent fewer calories over a two-year period.

The other half served as a control group and were therefore prescribed normal food.

During the study, the research team analyzed blood samples from the participants at three different times: at the start of the study, after twelve months and after two years.

With the help of so-called methylation markers on the genome of the participants, which was extracted from white blood cells, the biological age could be determined.

These chemical markers indicate epigenetic changes.

Even if these do not directly change the DNA, they still affect the function of the genes.

Since the markers change with age, among other things, the research team can use these epigenetic changes to estimate the "actual" biological age of a person, i.e. at what age the changes found in the body would be "normal" - regardless of the actual age (calendar or chronological age).

Instead, biological (or metabolic) age reveals what state the body really is in.

In addition, the scientists were able to use these markers to draw conclusions about the speed of the aging process.

Aging healthily: Study shows that the pace of life can be slowed down by diet

In their analysis, Belsky's researchers actually found measurable changes in this lifetime speedometer after two years of fasting, as their report in the journal

reveals.

Accordingly, the aging rate in the subjects slowed down by two to three percent.

At the same time, this result corresponds to a reduction in the risk of death by 10 to 15 percent, which is roughly comparable to stopping smoking.

According to another study, brisk walking should also help against aging and can prolong life by up to 16 years.

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This article only contains general information on the respective health topic and is therefore not intended for self-diagnosis, treatment or medication.

In no way does it replace a visit to the doctor.

Unfortunately, our editors are not allowed to answer individual questions about clinical pictures.

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