There are already medicines designed to slow down the ageing process. However, who can tell how effective they are? And are these drugs the best way to reduce the impacts of ageing?
Scientists at the University of Sydney say that according to their pre-clinical study a good diet is more efficient at keeping conditions like diabetes, stroke and heart disease at bay.
The Mediterranean diet is often regarded as being healthy and having anti-ageing properties. Image credit: Pierre Pericard via Wikimedia (CC BY-SA 3.0)
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No one is really scared of aging. There is nothing wrong that there are more and more candles on your cake each year. People are actually fearing the effects of ageing – age-related health issues are what really scares us. And that’s why scientists have been developing drugs that reduce the risk of these age-associated health issues, including diabetes, heart disease and stroke. However, this new research in mice and humans revealed the important protective role of diet and specific combinations of proteins, fats and carbohydrates against ageing, obesity, heart disease, immune dysfunction and risk of metabolic diseases.
Scientists tried 40 different treatments, which differed in levels of proteins, drugs and diet. In this way they analysed the impact of three anti-ageing drugs on the liver, which is a key organ in the regulation of metabolism. And the results were fairly simple – alterations that drugs can achieve in metabolic processes are pretty small compared to changes evoked by dietary choices.
David Le Couteur, lead author of the study, explained: “We all know what we eat influences our health, but this study showed how food can dramatically influence many of the processes operating in our cells. This gives us insights into how diet impacts on health and ageing.”
Scientists found that protein and total calorie intake had a particularly powerful effect on fundamental processes that control the way our cells function. Proteins in our diet have a huge effect on mitochondria, which are the part of cells that produce energy. Naturally, our dietary choices are extremely important in this regard. Meanwhile most drugs can only dampen the cell’s metabolic response to diet. They cannot significantly enhance or mitigate what we do to ourselves with our diets. And so it seems that the best way to avoid some of the harshest health risks is to take care of your diet first rather than look for easier solutions like drugs.
This is not to say that all anti-ageing drugs are bound to fail. Some, hopefully, will succeed. However, the most important thing you can do for yourself is to start eating healthier, making sure that your diet includes a lot of protein, reasonable amounts of fat and as little of sugar as possible. The Mediterranean diet is often described as having anti-aging properties as well as being delicious.
Source: University of Sydney