There are now over 16 million people over 60 in the UK and the issue of how to slow down ageing and stay healthy is particularly pertinent.

If you are around that age then it’s important to realise that 65 is the watershed, when many diabetes, cancer and heart disease diagnoses are made.

How to age well is a difficult area to research since hard evidence requires long-term studies. However, there is research into a very tangible measure of healthy ageing – telomeres.

Why telomeres – and their length – are important

Everything you do that ages you shortens your telomeres. Think of them like the hard bit at the end of your shoelaces, except these shoelaces are the spirally chromosomes that house your genes, the blueprint for making new, young cells.

Every time you make a new cell your telomere length shortens. When you run out of sufficient telomere length the game is over.

Every month there are studies into what shortens or lengthens telomeres, with over 20,000 studies to date giving concrete clues as to what to eat, supplement and how to live to stay young and healthy for as long as possible.

The good news is that the advice is completely consistent with the advice I’ve been giving you over the past 40 years of studying optimum nutrition, confirming that supplementing nutrients at levels above the basic RDAs has a positive anti-ageing benefit.

Anti-ageing nutrients

The nutrients that, so far, have been associated with longer telomeres are B vitamins (especially folate and B12), vitamin C, D, zinc, magnesium and omega-3. Generally, the higher your intake the longer your telomeres.

Also, multivitamin takers have longer telomeres and the longer the telomeres the less is the risk for cancer. Particularly key is your homocysteine level. The lower your level the longer your telomeres.

A study in the European Journal of Nutrition gave 60 older people a supplement of vitamin B6, B12, folate, D and calcium versus just vitamin D. One year later those taking the B vitamins had lower homocysteine and longer telomeres.

Zinc and magnesium are key to slowing ageing. The ‘pen’ that copies DNA to accurately make new cells is called a ‘zinc finger’. Last year a cell study confirmed that boosting zinc levels lengthened telomeres.

Magnesium is key to healthy telomers because it regulates their structure, integrity and function. A study of over 10,000 Americans finds that ‘Higher mineral and vitamin consumption is associated with longer telomeres among adults in the US.’

Another finds that the higher a person’s omega-3 intake (from fish and seeds) compared to omega-6 the longer the telomeres. In older people with mild cognitive impairment supplementing omega-3 slows down telomere shortening.

DHA, one of the key smart fats in omega-3 rich seafood, has the strongest positive association.

Foods that slow down ageing

What should you eat to slow down ageing? The latest research is completely consistent with my optimum nutrition advice.

Eating a Mediterranean style diet, having more nuts and seeds and more foods high in antioxidants have all been linked to slower cellular ageing and longer telomeres. This kind of diet is known to reduce inflammation, and research shows that the more anti-inflammatory foods a person eats the longer are their telomeres.

Two studies, in China found that those who eat more vegetables have longer telomeres. Wheat may not be so good – people with coeliac disease, gluten sensitivity, have shorter telomeres.

Also, eating organic food may have real benefit. A ten year study finds that the higher the level of food-based pollutants, primarily from pesticides and herbicides and industrial non-biodegradable pollutants, the shorter the telomeres and the greater the level of inflammatory markers.

Anti-ageing lifestyle secrets

The better you sleep, the more you exercise and the less you stress the longer your telomere are likely to be. As far as longevity is concerned seven hours sleep seems to be the optimal.

A study in the European Journal of Epidemiology finds that those in the top quarter of daily steps (ideally over 6,500 steps a day) had longer telomeres compared to those in the bottom quarter.

It pays to have a positive attitude and a low stress life. Post-traumatic stress disorder, childhood traumas, depression and a cynical attitude are all linked to accelerated ageing.

Conversely two studies show that those who practice meditation regularly have longer telomeres. In one study, those with post traumatic stress disorder who exercised didn’t have the usual telomere shortening.

Another study of women finds that both obesity and smoking are associated with shorter telomere length, as is heavy alcohol consumption in older people.

Those who have been following my anti-aging health advice over the years, summarised in Ten Secrets of Healthy Ageing, will be heartened to see that the advice I’ve been giving is now being shown to affect your healthy lifespan at a really fundamental level.

When I first came into this field the predominant concept was that you needed enough nutrients for enzymes to work, but now it is clear that optimising your intake of nutrients not only turns on and off the right genes, but may actually lengthen your healthy life by allowing more cell divisions to occur before your telomeres fray at the edges.

This confirms the value of supplementing vitamin B, C, D antioxidants, zinc, magnesium and omega-3, which is exactly what I do everyday in my 100% Health Pack.

Theoretically, following my anti-ageing diet and lifestyle, plus daily supplements, should equate to longer telomeres, so I decided to have mine tested through Regenerus labs. It turns out I have the average telomere length of a 29 year old, someone half my age! You can too.

Helpful information:

Keeping your weight down, eating a healthy diet and having regular exercise are all essential for a healthier older age.

At menopause it is also critically important to have hormone balance as so many conditions potentially associated with it, such as heart disease and hormonal cancers are related to oestrogen dominance.

Getting that under control will positively impact your health, and your lifespan.

This is the time of life where heart disease is the biggest killer for women and the sleep disturbance that occurs at menopause because of night sweats will also seriously impact not only hormone balance but overall health.

https://anna.blog.wellsprings-health.com/11-surprising-things-that-hurt-your-heart/