#health #aging #soda #sugar #food #cells
“Some lifestyle habits can make us look and feel older than we are. So, steer clear of these saboteurs to stay younger, longer“–Paul Ebeling
According to researchers who discovered that consuming sugary drinks was linked to cell aging, the consumption of sugar-sweetened soda might increase the risk of disease separately from the part it plays in obesity. The study discovered that the protective DNA caps at the ends of the cells’ chromosomes known as telomeres were shorter in those individuals’ white blood cells who consumed more soda.
Telomere length can be most easily measured in white blood cells and has been linked to human lifespan before. Short telomeres have also been linked to the chronic diseases of aging such as diabetes, heart disease, and certain kinds of cancer.
Regular drinking of sugar-sweetened sodas could have an impact on the development of disease, not just by putting a strain on the metabolic control of the body, but also by accelerating cellular aging of the tissues.
According to the average telomere length shortening from chronological age, the researchers determined that drinking a 20-ounce soda daily was linked to an additional 4.6 yrs of biological aging. This would be equivalent to the impact that smoking has on telomere length, or to the opposing anti-aging effect of regular exercise.
The average consumption of sugar-sweetened sodas for all participating individuals was 12 ounces. Approximately 21% in this nationally representative sample reported consuming a minimum of 20 ounces of sugar-sweetened soda every day. The only beverage consumed that was negatively associated with telomere length was sugared soda consumption.
And let us not forget this
A study has established that there is an association between ultra-processed food consumption and telomere shortening. Telomeres are parts of chromosomes that can be made use of as biological age markers. The study results suggest that people with a high intake of over 3 servings of ultra-processed foods every day were 2X as likely to have short telomeres, which are a biological aging marker at the cellular level, indicating that diet may cause faster aging of the cells
Eat healthy, Be healthy, Live lively
