Exercise is good for you. But did you know it can also make your body look 10 years younger? Researchers are now beginning to discover how exercise keeps you young.
First, you need to figure out what “staying young” means. One way to measure age is through your DNA. Literally. Your telomeres are located at the ends of your chromosomes and serve as protective caps for all the genetic material between.
As you age, your telomeres will shrink. It turns out that telomeres can be one of the most important factors for aging.
Make Your DNA Younger
A 2008 study found that exercise can reduce biological aging by as much as 10 years. Researchers compared the length of telomeres with the exercise habits of identical twins in the study.
The research involved more than 1,200 pairs (mostly white) of twins. Researchers examined the effect of exercise on the lengthening of telomeres within white blood cells of twins.
Telomeres in the most active subjects had telomeres 200 nucleotides more than those in the least active. The telomeres of identical twins who exercised less than their siblings or brothers were approximately 88 nucleotides shorter than those of the less active, but still genetically identical, sisters and brothers.
Understanding how exercise can help keep your DNA “young,” is a major step towards understanding the role of lifestyle in aging.
What is the Best Exercise for DNA?
It seems important to work up a sweat. The twin study found that people who exercised regularly for at least three hours a week were more likely to have longer telomeres, and were also 10 years younger (as measured using their telomeres). After accounting for other factors like smoking, age, and work activity, this result was consistent.
Other research suggests that vigorous exercise may not be as beneficial for men. One study of Helsinki businessmen was done over almost three decades. It found that those who exercise moderately had longer Telomeres than those who exercised vigorously (including some who were competitive athletes), and those who did not exercise as much.
But what if my Telomeres are short?
Researchers believe that telomere length research is still relatively new. However, it has been shown that shorter telomeres may increase your risk of developing age-related illnesses like high blood pressure, mental problems, and cancer.
Because telomeres shrink, DNA’s buffer is less and any damage it sustains will be more likely to impact cellular function. Exercise is believed to reduce free radical damage, which allows your body’s resources to be used for maintaining health and not repairing it.
