Research Blog
Welcome to part 6 of the ODX series on "Biological Age: A True Measure of Health." In the sixth post in our series, we will discuss ways to improve biological age
The ODX Biological Age Series
Dicken Weatherby, N.D. and Beth Ellen DiLuglio, MS, RDN, LDN
- Biological Age - Part 1: What is Biological Age?
- Biological Age - Part 2: How to Measure Biological Age: Overview
- Biological Age - Part 3: How to Measure Biological Age: Key Biomarkers
- Biological Age - Part 4: How to Measure Biological Age: DNA Methylation (DNAm)
- Biological Age - Part 5: How to Measure Biological Age: Telomere Length
- Biological Age - Part 6: How to Improve Biological Age
- Biological Age - Part 7: Optimal Takeaways
Chronological age cannot be changed…. But biological age can.
The most influential factors contributing to biological age are individual health behaviors regarding nutrition, exercise, sleep, smoking, and alcohol. Recent adversities and stressors can also affect biological age, as can genetic factors, but lifestyle choices are the most prominent factors (Levine 2023).
If biological age is higher than chronological age, some simple tweaks and changes can improve it.
Life’s Essential 8
The association between biological aging and lifestyle habits was investigated in a 20-year+ cross-sectional study of 11,729 subjects from the 2005-2010 NHANES study. Phenotypic aging was inversely correlated with Life’s Essential 8 (LE8) factors, i.e., those with a higher LE8 score had a lower biological age. Life’s Essential 8 scores are based on the following health behaviors and health factors (Zhang 2023):
Source: Zhang, Ronghuai et al. “Association between life's essential 8 and biological ageing among US adults.” Journal of translational medicine vol. 21,1 622. 14 Sep. 2023, doi:10.1186/s12967-023-04495-8 This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
Photo by Nathan Cowley from Pexels.com
Diet and Nutrition
A highly inflammatory diet, measured by The Dietary Inflammatory Index (DII), is specifically associated with chronic disease and accelerated aging. This effect was demonstrated using NHANES data from 35,575 adult subjects that found significant positive correlations between DII and biological age (Xie 2023).
The DII categorizes foods as pro-inflammatory or anti-inflammatory (Kanauchi 2019):
- Pro-inflammatory foods include red meats, processed meats, organ meats, non-oily fish, eggs, sugar-sweetened beverages, tomatoes, and refined grains (especially if these foods and beverages are consumed frequently).
- Anti-inflammatory foods include leafy green vegetables, dark yellow vegetables, fruit juice, oily fish, coffee, tea, wine, and beer or other alcohol beverages.
A pro-inflammatory diet can be associated with persistent low-grade inflammation related to aging and chronic disease. In a cross-sectional study of 928 adults in Scotland, significantly higher blood levels of inflammatory markers C-reactive protein (CRP) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) were associated with a higher DII (Corley 2019).
The premature aging that is associated with inflammation, known as inflammation, is associated with chronic conditions such as metabolic syndrome, diabetes, arthritis, dementia, cancer, osteoporosis, frailty, heart and lung diseases, and mortality. Several nutrients and plant-based compounds help attenuate the negative effects of inflammation and oxidative stress, and can reduce inflammaging and may improve biological age. These constituents include (Szarc vel Szic 2015):
- Fatty acids: Butyrate, DHA, EPA, arachidonic acid [may also be pro-inflammatory]
- Methyl donors: Vitamin B12, folate, choline, betaine, methionine, serine, glycine
- Phytochemicals: Genistein, soy isoflavones, curcumin, resveratrol, sulforaphane, polyphenols
- Vitamins: B12, C, retinol, tocopherols
Overview of the mechanisms and consequences of epigenetic regulation by nutritional compounds.
Modulation of different classes of chromatin writers-erasers by phytochemicals (left panel). Genes encoding absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion (ADME) proteins can be epigenetically regulated and thereby determine individual nutritional responses. Epigenetic modification of disease-related genes can contribute to diagnosis (biomarker) as well as disease prevention or progression (right panel).
Source: Szarc vel Szic, Katarzyna et al. “From inflammaging to healthy aging by dietary lifestyle choices: is epigenetics the key to personalized nutrition?.” Clinical epigenetics vol. 7,1 33. 25 Mar. 2015, doi:10.1186/s13148-015-0068-2 This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0)
Fasting, or abstaining from food for a set period of time, may help reduce biological age as well. Researchers observed a decrease in biological age of approximately 2.5 years when individuals participated in three short-term fasts over a few months, reaching an average of 15 fasting days per year. The reduction in biological would likely manifest as a reduced disease burden and longer healthspan and lifespan (Levine 2023).
The combination of improvements in diet and exercise significantly decreased biological age and increased Healthy Aging Index scores in a randomized study of 93 adults with obesity, i.e., a BMI of 30 or higher. The positive effects of diet and exercise were observed by the sixth month of the 12-month study. The diet and exercise protocols were as follows (Ho 2022):
Diet protocol:
- A diet approximately 500-750 kcals below daily energy requirements
- Weekly meetings with a dietitian to adjust and progress the diet
Exercise protocol
- Three exercise sessions per week for a total of 90 minutes incorporating
- 15 minutes of flexibility
- 15 minutes of balancing
- 30 minutes of aerobics (treadmill, bike, or elliptical trainer)
- 30 minutes of progressive resistance exercise (progressing to 2-3 sets at approximately 80% of the one-repetition maximum)
- Supervision by facility exercise physiologists
References
Corley, J et al. “Associations between Dietary Inflammatory Index Scores and Inflammatory Biomarkers among Older Adults in the Lothian Birth Cohort 1936 Study.” The journal of nutrition, health & aging vol. 23,7 (2019): 628-636. doi:10.1007/s12603-019-1221-y
Ho, E et al. “Effect of Diet, Exercise, or Both on Biological Age and Healthy Aging in Older Adults with Obesity: Secondary Analysis of a Randomized Controlled Trial.” The journal of nutrition, health & aging vol. 26,6 (2022): 552-557. doi:10.1007/s12603-022-1812-x
Kanauchi, Masao et al. “A novel dietary inflammatory index reflecting for inflammatory ageing: Technical note.” Annals of medicine and surgery (2012) vol. 47 44-46. 27 Sep. 2019, doi:10.1016/j.amsu.2019.09.012
Levine, Morgan. True Age: Cutting-edge Research to Help Turn Back the Clock. Penguin, 2023.
Szarc vel Szic, Katarzyna et al. “From inflammaging to healthy aging by dietary lifestyle choices: is epigenetics the key to personalized nutrition?.” Clinical epigenetics vol. 7,1 33. 25 Mar. 2015, doi:10.1186/s13148-015-0068-2
Kanauchi, Masao et al. “A novel dietary inflammatory index reflecting for inflammatory ageing: Technical note.” Annals of medicine and surgery (2012) vol. 47 44-46. 27 Sep. 2019, doi:10.1016/j.amsu.2019.09.012
Xie, Ruijie et al. “Dietary inflammatory potential and biological aging among US adults: a population-based study.” Aging clinical and experimental research vol. 35,6 (2023): 1273-1281. doi:10.1007/s40520-023-02410-1
Zhang, Ronghuai et al. “Association between life's essential 8 and biological ageing among US adults.” Journal of translational medicine vol. 21,1 622. 14 Sep. 2023, doi:10.1186/s12967-023-04495-8
