Eating diet rich in polyphenols can lower likelihood of shorter DNA endings linked to age-related diseases
Eating fruit and drinking a cup of coffee a day could halve the risk of cells ageing unhealthily, research suggests.
Foods rich in polyphenols such as berries, apples, coffee, cocoa and tea are known to have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, but a new study has found they are also associated with a lower risk of short telomeres, the “ends” or caps of DNA that, when shorter, increase the risk of cell death and unhealthy ageing.
Researchers from the University of Navarra in Pamplona, Spain, measured the length of telomeres in samples from more than 1,700 adults in 2008 and also in 2015 and assessed participants’ total polyphenol consumption.
The study, presented at this year’s European Congress on Obesity in Istanbul, found that compared with those who consumed the least polyphenols, those with the highest amounts in their diets had a 52% lower risk of short telomeres.
