It turns out, what you eat may do more to keep you young than any skin fix.
New studies show that some foods can make you live longer and healthier and might even make you look younger.
In April, a team from the University of Washington and the National University of Natural Medicine shared results of a study on the methylation diet in men. If you don't know, UCLA Health says methylation is a "body process where carbon moves and changes DNA." This changes how genes act and behave. Methylation links to aging. Since it links to some nutrients, what you eat matters a lot.
The team found that some foods, like turmeric, rosemary, garlic, berries, green tea, and oolong tea, can really help slow down how fast your cells age.
To find this out, they looked at 38 men aged 50 to 72 in Portland, Oregon. Half did an eight-week plan that had them eat foods good for methylation, meditate every day, sleep well, and work out a bit. Their diet included some meat but focused more on plants. It did not have alcohol, dairy, grains, or legumes, as these might mess with gut health for a bit, which could affect methylation.
At the end of the test, the group found out that those in the help group had cut an average of two years from their old age mark, with some seeing cuts as big as nine years. Yet, there is some change in the results, with one person's age mark going up.
How do these foods have this kind of effect? Experts think these age-beating foods work in a few main ways. First, many have natural things that seem to set the work of enzymes that turn genes on and off, like EGCG in green tea and curcumin in turmeric.
Lab tests, like a 2010 test, also show they can lower swelling and harm from stress, two main things in aging and illness. There's also more proof that these parts may keep telomeres—the end bits on your things that hold your body's rules that get shorter as you get older.
It's key to know that this new study was small and had middle-aged, mostly white men. There are other tests that have looked at women, including one with six women aged 45 to 65 for eight weeks who stuck to a like plan. Even though it was a small test, the results do make your next cup of green tea seem even better.