Scientists have found out how sugar affects aging

Scientists have found out how sugar affects aging

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Excessive consumption of sugar leads to to health problems such as obesity and type 2 diabetes. Now scientists have found that a diet high in added sugar can accelerate cell aging.

This was the conclusion reached by scientists from the University of California (USA) in their study, published in the scientific journal JAMA Network Open, writes Health.

“Sugar itself is an inflammatory agent as well as a cause of oxidative stress in the body,” – noted the co-author of the study, Dorothy Chu.

Oxidative stress occurs when the amount of free radicals (unstable molecules that are formed as a result of natural biochemical processes) in the body exceeds antioxidants. This causes cell damage. Oxidative stress and inflammation can accelerate biological aging.

The researchers analyzed data collected as part of the US National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NGHS) study, which was conducted from 1987 to 1997. They contained information on the cardiovascular health of white and black girls between the ages of 9 and 19.

Between 2015 and 2019, researchers followed nearly 350 participants who lived in Northern California.

The women reported information about their diet and also provided saliva samples, which the scientists used to analyze their biological age.

First, the researchers analyzed the diet of the participants. They compared it to the Mediterranean diet, an eating pattern associated with a lower risk of chronic disease.

It turned out that the participants who followed the diet usually had a lower biological age.

The scientists then analyzed sugar consumption. They found that on average, women consumed more than 60 grams of sugar every day. The daily excess sugar they ate or drank ranged from 3 to 316 grams.

While the US Food and Drug Administration recommends for people who consume about 2,000 calories a day, to eat and drink no more than 50 grams of added sugar—that’s any sugar a person adds to food or drink.

The researchers also found that due to the consumption of added sugar, cells age faster than due to age – even in participants who followed a healthy diet. That is, over the years, their cells will most likely be biologically older than the person himself.

Scientists suggest that excess sugar plays a significant role in epigenetics – that is, how lifestyle and environment affect the changes that leave an imprint on genes.

It also accelerates glycation – a process during which sugar in the blood attaches to proteins, due to which harmful substances are formed. They can cause inflammation and oxidative stress, which accelerates cell aging.

However, there is good news. Damage caused by epigenetic processes is reversible. Cutting out 10 grams of added sugar per day will eventually set a person’s biological clock back about 2.4 months.

We used to toldwhich are 11 signs that you are consuming too much sugar.