To Your Health October, 2024 (Vol. 18, Issue 10)

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Sugar and Epigenetic Age

By Editorial Staff

You can't control your chronological age, but evidence supports the relationship between lifestyle behaviors and your epigenetic age – your age in terms of your health. That's why some 70-year-olds are healthier than 40-year-olds despite their dramatic chronological age differences.

One lifestyle variable that affects epigenetic age, for better or worse, is diet; in this case, added sugar intake.

A recent study involving 342 middle-aged (ages 36-43) women examined how their diets impacted their epigenetic age. The investigators specifically looked at the impact of a Mediterranean diet, as well as the impact of added sugar.¹

The study included an analysis of female participants in the 1987-1997 National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Growth and Health Study (NGHS). The authors based their epigenetic age assessment using GrimAge2, which utilizes "second-generation markers of epigenetic aging that account for clinical and functional biomarkers, and is most notable for its robust associations with human mortality and morbidity risk, including time to death and comorbidity counts."

The women consumed a daily average of 61.5 grams of added sugar each, with a range of 2.7 grams to 316.5 grams. (Sixty grams of sugar is the equivalent of three Snickers candy bars.)

The authors noted that "even in healthy dietary contexts, added sugar still has detrimental associations with epigenetic age. Similarly, despite higher added sugar intake, healthier dietary intakes appear to remain generally associated with younger epigenetic age."

According to their findings, the gains from eating a Mediterranean diet could be offset by consuming 31 grams of added sugar (only 1.5 Snickers bars). The authors suggest that to increase their epigenetic health, individuals need to both optimize the nutrient intake in their diets while reducing their sugar as much as possible.

Everyone's epigenetic clock is ticking. We have the power to speed it up or slow it down. In many cases, our eating habits are based on what we're taught. If you've been taught to eat a diet high in added sugar, ask your doctor for help outlining a sensible long-term plan to reduce added sugar and in so doing, lower your epigenetic age.

Reference

1. Chiu DT, Hamlat EJ, Zhang J, et al. Essential nutrients, added sugar intake, and epigenetic age in midlife black and white women: NIMHD Social Epigenomics Program. JAMA Netw Open, 2024;7(7):e2422749.