Age-related diseases like heart disease, diabetes, dementia, and cancers are on the rise, placing a significant burden on the healthcare system and economy. Interventions that can slow the aging process by just two years could save almost $7 trillion over 50 years and increase health and quality of life. Authors of a recent report tested the effects of a diet and lifestyle intervention on the reversal of epigenetic aging.

Epigenetic aging is a way to predict an individual’s risk of age-related disease by biological means instead of just chronology. Epigenetics is a biological mechanism that regulates gene expression (how and when certain genes are turned on or off). Diet, lifestyle, and environmental exposures can drive epigenetic changes throughout an individual’s lifespan to influence aging. The record of these changes can be used to predict biological age. Lifestyle interventions may be able to slow biological aging by reversing some epigenetic modifications.

The authors of the study enrolled 43 healthy males between the ages of 50 and 72 years. They randomly assigned half of the participants to complete an eight-week diet and lifestyle intervention, while the other half did not. The intervention included a diet rich in vegetables (e.g., leafy greens, beets, and cruciferous and other colored vegetables), low-glycemic fruit (e.g., blueberries), seeds, animal proteins, liver, and eggs. The researchers advised participants to choose organic over conventional produce and meat; avoid eating between 7 p.m. and 7 a.m.; stay hydrated; cook with healthy oils (e.g., coconut, olive, or flaxseed oils); avoid sugar, dairy, grains, and beans; and avoid plastic containers. They gave participants a supplement rich in bioactive plant compounds (like quercetin or green tea extract) and a probiotic with the bacteria, Lactobacillus plantarum. They also asked participants to exercise for 30 minutes five days per week, sleep for at least seven hours per night, and manage stress with prescribed breathing exercises. They measured DNA methylation patterns before and after the intervention period to assess changes in the epigenome.

The diet and lifestyle intervention significantly decreased epigenetic age by more than three years by the end of the eight-week trial compared to participants in the control group. Compared to their own baseline epigenetic age, participants who completed the intervention reversed their epigenetic clocks by almost two years, although this relationship was not statistically significant. The intervention also increased serum folate by 15 percent and reduced blood triglyceride levels by 25 percent.

This study is the first randomized controlled trial to find that diet and lifestyle interventions may reverse epigenetic aging in healthy adult males. The authors note that large-scale trials with longer durations are needed to confirm their results.

• Link to full report.
• Learn more about lifestyle factors that can slow aging in this clip featuring epigenetic aging expert Dr. Steve Horvath.