Changing the balance of your diet could help you turn back your body's biological age in just a matter of weeks, a new study suggests.
Scientists from the University of Sydney conducted a trial looking at 104 people aged between 65 and 75 years. They were then split into four groups, and over four weeks, the research team provided each group with a different type of meal.
One received semi-vegetarian meals with high fat content. Another was given semi-vegetarian meals with high carbohydrate content. A third received omnivorous (animal and plant) meals with high fat, and the last was put on an omnivorous diet with high carbohydrates.
At the beginning and end of the four weeks, the participants’ biological age was measured – essentially an overall reading of their cell function and metabolism. They did this using the Klemera-Doubal Method, which looks at a number of biomarkers and measurements, including insulin levels, cholesterol and blood pressure.
The fewest changes were observed in the omnivorous high-fat group, whose diet most resembled the one they were following at the start of the trial.
But all three other groups showed a reduction in their biological age at the end of the four weeks – none more so than the group that had an animal- and plant-based diet with higher carbohydrates and lower fat.
Crucially, those carbohydrates were minimally processed – repeating the test with supermarket white bread and a bag of chips would not yield such a positive response.
These changes were “consistent with prior evidence that diets rich in complex carbohydrates can extend lifespan and improve metabolic health”, the scientists said in their findings published in the journal Aging Cell.
Dr Caitlin Andrews, the lead author of the study, said it showed that “diet really can influence our physiology quite substantially, even over relatively short periods of time and even later in life”.
“I think there's a lot to be said for shifting the focus away from restriction and more toward overall dietary quality and balance,” she added. “Small, realistic and sustainable improvements to overall diet quality may still have meaningful effects on health as we get older.”
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