Slower Biological Aging with Plant-Based Dietary Patterns
Research in a large cohort of over 10,000 patients, published in the journal BMC Medicine, has found that adopting a plant-based dietary pattern – especially when rich in healthful plant foods – was associated with a substantially lowered pace of aging.
The researchers analyzed the dietary patterns of the participants and assessed measures of biological aging acquired at four time points over an eight year period. They found that closer adherence to plant-based dietary patterns was linked to significantly lower odds of accelerated aging trajectories, even when adjusting comprehensively for sociodemographic and lifestyle factors.
Meanwhile, higher intake of animal food groups, added sugars, salt, and refined grains had the opposite effect. They also found that participants with an accelerated aging trajectory had a higher risk of death during the study than those in the slow aging trajectory.
The findings are consistent with other research showing that higher intake of dietary antioxidants and polyphenols from plant foods is associated with significantly slower biological aging.
References:
Wang, S., Li, W., Li, S., Tu, H., Jia, J., Zhao, W., Xu, A., Xu, W., Tsai, M. K., Chu, D. T., Wen, C. P., & Wu, X. (2023). Association between plant-based dietary pattern and biological aging trajectory in a large prospective cohort. BMC medicine, 21(1), 310. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12916-023-02974-9
He, H., Chen, X., Ding, Y., Chen, X., & He, X. (2024). Composite dietary antioxidant index associated with delayed biological aging: a population-based study. Aging, 16(1), 15–27. https://doi.org/10.18632/aging.205232
Yaskolka Meir, A., Keller, M., Hoffmann, A., Rinott, E., Tsaban, G., Kaplan, A., Zelicha, H., Hagemann, T., Ceglarek, U., Isermann, B., Shelef, I., Blüher, M., Stumvoll, M., Li, J., Haange, S. B., Engelmann, B., Rolle-Kampczyk, U., von Bergen, M., Hu, F. B., Stampfer, M. J., Shai, I. (2023). The effect of polyphenols on DNA methylation-assessed biological age attenuation: the DIRECT PLUS randomized controlled trial. BMC medicine, 21(1), 364. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12916-023-03067-3