Have you ever really stopped to look at a pair of shoelaces before? If so, you’ve probably noticed the little plastic caps on both ends of a shoelace. This cap is there to protect the fabric from fraying and splitting into multiple layers. It’s the defense for the shoelaces longevity.
Much like those plastic cap's jobs, our DNA has similar “caps” that we call telomeres. Their job is to similarly protect the chromosome strands from fraying or sticking together. While also protecting our DNA, the telomeres are also responsible for making sure our DNA gets properly copied each time cell division takes place. Even with the importance and strength of the telomeres, our DNA strands get shorter and shorter with every cell division.
The challenge that comes with aging arises with the natural degradation of the telomeres. When the telomeres become too short, a cell can no longer divide, leading to damaged cells that can no longer repair and eventually dies. Although there is still lots of research to be conducted on understanding telomeres' role in aging and youth, there are several things that are certain such as: smoking and too much UV light exposure can speed up the decline of our telomeres.
How do I protect my telomeres?
According to a study published in 2018 by Balan, et al., there are several things you can do to protect your telomere longevity:
Maintain a healthy diet of high fiber and unsaturated lipids (e.g., oats, flax, spinach, mushrooms), while avoiding high sugar and saturated lipid foods
Consume foods high in antioxidants (e.g., berries, beans, nuts, green tea)
Physical activity can protect telomeres but the proper dose is yet to be determined.
For physical activity or exercise recommendations, contact Texins Staff or join us for live or on-demand virtual group exercise. Please check out our Nutrition Blog for additional nutrition content.