New study reveals how eating popular dairy food every day could slow biological ageing
Topics: Health, Food and Drink
Stefania Sarrubba
Featured Image Credit: (Getty Stock Images)
Topics: Health, Food and Drink
A new study has just confirmed that a popular dairy product that might already be part of your diet can help slow down the ageing process.
The research published in the journal Aging has investigated how an easy diet change and regular exercise have positively affected the health of men between the ages of 50 and 74 over a three-month period.
The study has analysed a group of 48 overweight men in Japan, with half of the participants following a structured routine while the other half maintained their usual habits (via Fox News).
The intervention group were asked to consume 100g of a popular dairy product every single day, while also receiving dietary advice tailored to each of them, recommending them to avoid overeating, excessive snacking and cut out sugary drinks.
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On top of that, they were also instructed to walk or use a stepper machine for about 30 minutes a day at least three days each week.
To measure the impact of these changes onto the participants’ health, scientists collected blood samples from all 48 men before and after the study, and also analysed DNA for chemical changes that act as indicators of cellular age.
Researchers used a measurement tool called DunedinPACE which calculates the precise rate at which an individual’s body is currently aging, rather than assessing a person's chronological age in years.
The results proved that the men who consumed the probiotic yogurt — this is the dairy product that could help slow down your biological clock — and exercised regularly showed a significant reduction in their pace of aging compared to the control group.
On average, the speed at which the intervention group’s biological aging slowed down was approximately 2.2%. A similar reduction was previously observed in a two-year US study, in which participants reduced their daily calorie intake by 25%.
Contrary to what some may think, the reduction in aging speed had nothing to do with weight loss, meaning it showed no direct link to the participants' body mass index or the exact number of exercise sessions they logged.
The study also recorded an improvement in a specific DNA marker that’s connected to kidney function.
Before you start stocking on plain yogurt, however, it’s worth noting that scientists have pointed out that since the study combines three different elements — probiotics, diet, and exercise — the benefits cannot be connected to one of the three alone. The slowed ageing rate seems to be a combination of the three.