Telo-what??? That’s what I thought the first time I heard about telomeres too. It turns out that if you’re into slowing the aging process and staying healthy, telomeres are a very cool subject.

Telomeres are the protective caps on DNA structures found at both ends of each chromosome. Studies have shown that telomere length is the best measure for biological age (how old you appear physiologically vs. how old you actually are).

Shorter telomere length has been correlated with chronic disease such as cancer heart disease, stroke, dementia, obesity and premature death, where longer telomere length has been correlated with the opposite. For example, a study of 787 participants over 10 years looked to find which participants would develop cancer. Those in the shortest telomere group were three times as likely to develop cancer as those in the longest telomere group.[1]

The bottom line:
Longer telomeres = health and longevity.
Shorter telomeres= disease and aging.

What determines the length of my telomeres?


Factors that contribute to telomere shortening include: stress hormones, inflammation, oxidative stress lifestyle, exercise, diet, body weight, environmental toxic exposure, and smoking. Want to slow the aging process? Pay attention to these.

Lengthening your Telomeres

The good news is YES you can lengthen your telomeres. Just like a plant grows given the right nutrients, water and sun exposure, your telomeres will lengthen given the right conditions. Here they are:

Stand don’t sit

It sounds funny but it’s true. Too much sitting has been linked to shortened telomeres while standing is linked to longer telomeres. Although exercise is also known to lengthen telomeres, it doesn’t compensate for a mostly sedentary lifestyle.[2]

Shift your relationship with stress

Ever heard the expression “Change your mind, change your life?” In this case, changing your life includes longer telomeres. Stress may always be present, but your mental perception of it is not an absolute. If you perceive stress in a way that’s healthier and more functional for you (everyone is different), you’ll have longer telomeres. [3]

Sleep well

You’ve heard plenty about the importance of sleep for health. Now you have another reason to get your ZZZs. Poor sleep quality and shortened sleep duration has been linked to shorter telomere length in women and men.[4,5]

Take a multivitamin

Few of us are able to get all of our nutrition from food alone. Multivitamins contain micronutrients that help prevent oxidative stress and decrease inflammation, thus increasing telomere length.[6]

Limit exposure to environmental toxins

Environmental toxins are in our food, our air, even our furniture and household cleaning products. It’s no surprise that amongst all the negative effects on our health, they also shorten telomeres. Do the best you can to avoid environmental toxins: eat organic, limit plastics, use natural cleaning, cosmetic products and dry cleaning.[7]

Ditch the glass of alcohol

Men who refrain from alcohol have the longest telomeres. Sorry guys ☹. For women, the jury is still out. Research has shown that women have the longest telomeres when they drink between less than 2 servings a day and 1 serving a week (confusing, I know). The takeaway- male or female, drink little if you want to keep your telomeres long.[8]

Meditate, breathe, do yoga

Stress management is crucial for disease prevention, and as you may have guessed, longer telomeres! A recent UCSF pilot study by leading health expert, Dean Ornish showed that 60 minutes a day of stress management exercises like meditation, breathing and gentle yoga increased telomere length by 10%.[9]

Sources

  1. Scientific American: Aging: Too Much Telomerase Can Be As Bad As Too Little
  2. The Telegraph: How standing might be the best anti-ageing technique
  3. The National Center for Biotechnology Information: Can meditation slow rate of cellular aging? Cognitive stress, mindfulness, and telomeres
  4. The National Center for Biotechnology Information: Shorter leukocyte telomere length in midlife women with poor sleep quality.
  5. The National Center for Biotechnology Information: Short sleep duration is associated with shorter telomere length in healthy men: findings from the Whitehall II cohort study.
  6. The National Center for Biotechnology Information: Multivitamin use and telomere length in women.
  7. The National Center for Biotechnology Information: Combined Toxic Exposures and Human Health: Biomarkers of Exposure and Effect
  8. The National Center for Biotechnology Information: Healthy lifestyle and leukocyte telomere length in U.S. women.
  9. University of California San Francisco: Lifestyle Changes May Lengthen Telomeres, A Measure of Cell Aging