A Vegan Diet Could Help Reduce Your Biological Age
Switching to a vegan diet could be a way to turn back the clock — at least when it comes to your biological age, a new study suggests.
Biological age focuses on how well your body functions rather than your chronological age, and healthy lifestyle choices have long been thought of as a way to help people function like someone who has celebrated fewer birthdays. Slowing down our biological age can help us live longer and also give us more years of life free of chronic disease and disability, says study co-senior author Lucia Aronica, Ph.D., of Stanford University in California.
“Although medical advances over the last century have dramatically extended life expectancy, a significant portion of the population still spends about a third of their lives suffering from at least one age-related disease, such as heart disease or diabetes,” says Dr. Aronica. “Essentially, if we can slow down our biological aging, we could reduce the risk of developing age-related diseases and live longer, healthier lives, not just increase the number of years we live.”
One way to assess biological age is to focus on a biological process called DNA methylation, which involves molecular changes over time that turn different genes on and off. Some changes that occur with DNA methylation can cause the body to age more quickly, while others can slow down aging.
For the new study, the researchers looked for changes in DNA methylation in 21 pairs of adult biological twins. The scientists had one twin follow a vegan diet for eight weeks, while the other twin followed a healthy omnivorous diet.
The vegan diet is a stricter form of vegetarianism that excludes meat and all types of animal products. Becoming vegan means giving up foods like milk, eggs, cheese, and yogurt that many vegetarians consume.
Vegan diet reduces biological markers of age
It’s difficult to say exactly how much of the changes seen in the study might have been directly caused by the vegan diet, as opposed to eating fewer calories or losing weight while eating that way, the researchers note in the study.
The study is also too small and brief to draw general conclusions about whether everyone should go vegan to help reduce their biological age, says study co-lead author Varun Dwaraka, who completed the research while at Stanford University.
“We can’t predict the long-term effects of a vegan diet,” Dwaraka says. “Our study looked at diet-related changes, but couldn’t pinpoint the specific aspects—like eating more vegetables, eating less meat, or naturally consuming fewer calories—that were driving those changes. While we can’t provide specific guidelines based on this small study, it’s generally likely that incorporating one or more of these aspects into your diet will be beneficial.”
How a Vegan Diet Can Improve Biological Age
Experts consider diet to be one of the most modifiable factors that can impact our biological age, says Dr. Douglas Vaughan, professor emeritus and director of the Potocsnak Longevity Institute at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago.
““Plant-rich diets are rich in anti-inflammatory compounds, which may help slow the rate of biological aging,” says Dr. Vaughan, who was not involved in the new study. “Vegan diets are generally rich in nutrients that promote healthy DNA methylation, including antioxidants.”
While the exact impact of a vegan diet on biological age is still unclear, there are several possible ways it can help, says Kayli Anderson, RDN, founder of Plant-Based Mavens and a faculty member at the American College of Lifestyle Medicine in St. Louis.
“For example, a plant-based diet may slow biological aging because of its high fiber, fruits and vegetables, or its ability to reduce inflammation,” says Anderson, who was not involved in the new study. “The aging benefits may also be due to the absence of animal fats or red meat.”
Anyone looking to add more plants to their diet should focus on what’s sustainable in the long term, even if it’s not a strict vegan diet, Anderson advises.
“It’s our eating habits that, over time, help shape our health,” Anderson says. “Simply increasing the amount of plant-based foods you eat is good for your health, whether you’re vegan or not.”
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