According to research, longer telomeres might result in a healthier, happier, and extended life if we address the cellular senescence issue.

This research-based article does not include health advice. It is for information, inspiration, and awareness purposes.

Photo bySven MiekeonUnsplash

Scientists are trying to find ways to make telomeres longer for better healthspan and lifespan. Their goal is to help with problems related to aging and genes. I wrote this article because subscribers who read about telomeres in my stories about cellular, mitochondrial, and DNA health within the longevity context wanted to know more.

These loyal readers asked me how to protect our DNA and be healthier through epigenetics. I will explain what I found from reliable sources about telomeres and healthy choices without using too much science. I linked numerous papers from reliable sources.

My goal in this short article is to explain telomeres in simple terms and give a few tips to keep them healthy based on my longevity studies. The length of telomeres can show how healthy we are and how long we might live. Making good lifestyle choices can help our telomeres last longer.

So, you may wonder what telomeres are and why they are important. Telomeres have a long history dating back to the 1930s when scientists found them in flies and corn. They realized telomeres are special parts at the ends of chromosomes.

In 2009, three researchers got a Nobel Prize for figuring out how telomeres protect chromosomes and how an enzyme called telomerase helps. After that, research about telomeres grew a lot.

Telomeres are like shields for chromosomes. They keep important genetic information safe. But as cells divide over time, telomeres can get shorter. When they’re too short, cells can’t work properly or might even die. So, telomere length decides how long a cell can live.

An enzyme called telomerase can stop telomeres from getting too short. It repairs them when cells copy themselves. So, this gives us a clue that any lifestyle intervention that can optimize this enzyme might be helpful.

The length of telomeres shows how old we are biologically. Shorter telomeres mean a shorter life and more health problems. So, finding ways to keep telomeres longer with the help of the telomerase enzyme might help us live longer and be healthier.

For example, some scientists think that having longer telomeres in certain cells (leukocytes and skeletal muscle cells) could mean a healthier life and a lower chance of diseases like cancer, heart disease, and diabetes.

Because of these reasons, experts focus on making telomerase work better to fix telomeres. They are even trying to create new medicines to help keep telomeres long.

Looking after telomeres might help our cells stay healthy and delay age-related problems. Longer telomeres are connected to better health and possibly a longer life. By caring for our telomeres, we can aim not just to live longer but also to enjoy those extra years with vitality.

There’s a concept called cellular senescence. This happens when telomeres get really short, and cells stop working well and dividing.

This issue is linked to aging and body parts that do not work. So, the goal of our lifestyle choices is to stop cellular senescence.

What are the critical factors shortening telomere length?

When I looked at different sources in longevity literature, I noticed two factors that often make telomeres get shorter and faster. They are oxidative stress and chronic inflammation.

Many studies mentioned in a review paper show that when there is too much reactive oxygen species (ROS) in our cells, it causes stress and hurts our DNA.

Excessive ROS can make cells get old or even die prematurely. Some genes that deal with this kind of stress are also connected to telomere shortening and getting older.

Having shorter telomeres might mean there is a lot of stress in the body and mind. When cells constantly deal with this stress, they might be unable to fix their telomeres properly, so they keep shortening.

Another factor that makes telomeres shorten faster is long-lasting inflammation in the body. Chronic inflammation is noticeable when body parts get swollen, irritated, and painful.

A review paper states that if there is ongoing inflammation in the body, it can speed up how quickly telomeres get shorter. The paper explains that ongoing inflammation makes certain white blood cells divide more, making telomeres shorten faster.

So, if we change our lifestyle to reduce these two things — too much reactive oxygen species and long-lasting inflammation — it could help stop telomeres from getting shorter too quickly.

What are the practical ways to prevent telomere length shortening?

This is the main purpose of this article: to inform my readers. First of all, there is no one-size-fits-all approach to telomere health. Nothing has been defined and documented clearly yet.

However, studies indicate that some lifestyle interventions can have significant effects.

When reviewing longevity literature, I discovered numerous studies indicating that nutrition, exercise, sleep, fasting, meditation, and body-mind workouts might greatly impact telomere length. I will briefly touch on them to give you an idea from studies.

As mentioned in a comprehensive review paper, physical activity and nutrition are two promising strategies for telomere maintenance. The relationship between exercise and telomere length is evident in older people.

A comprehensive review informs that higher levels of physical activity or regular exercise are related to longer telomere lengths in various populations. For example, athletes tend to have longer telomere lengths than non-athletes.

Exercise is a powerful non-pharmacological tool inducing the renewal of the satellite cell pool in skeletal muscles.

A study states that “Both resistance and aerobic training can increase the number of satellite cells, which may be necessary for regulating skeletal muscle telomere length.”

Another study informed that in addition to physical activity, weight loss itself may reverse telomere attrition.

After exercise, good nutrition from whole foods is the next important factor in preventing telomere length.

This paper informs that healthy nutrition can reduce the rate of telomere shortening or at least prevent excessive telomere attrition, leading to delayed onset of age-associated diseases and increased lifespan.

A Chinese population study shed light on diet ingredients significantly impacting markers of inflammation and oxidative stress, which probably affected the length of telomeres. They investigated carbs and fats.

Overall, the literature touches on two molecules: anti-oxidants like glutathione and omega-3 fatty acids, which I discussed in detail before.

There is some evidence for the benefits of vitamin D in protecting DNA and preventing the shortening of telomere lengths through anti-inflammatory and anti-cell proliferation mechanisms. Folate is another vitamin involved in telomere length, but the findings are still murky.

Interestingly, a study found that people with a lot of folate in their blood had long telomeres. However, another study found that people with the most folate actually had shorter telomeres.

Later, researchers learned that too much folate can be bad for telomeres. So, it’s important to find the right amount of folate.

Sleep is critical for telomere health because it helps with cellular repair and maintenance, lowering oxidative stress and inflammation, releasing growth hormones, and providing cellular energy restoration.

For example, this study found that short sleep duration is associated with shorter telomere length in healthy men.

There is also evidence that downregulation of mTOR signaling increases stem cell population telomere length during starvation of immortal planarians.

This important research was updated in 2020, showing the potential benefits of fasting for telomere length. Based on my years of research and experience, I firmly believe that ketosis through fasting, nutritional interventions, or exercise can protect DNA and telomeres because fasting can lower inflammation in six ways.

There is also evidence for the effects of meditation on protecting telomeres, as I documented in an article titled Here’s How Meditation Can Impact Our Genes and Neurotransmitters.

In addition, mind-body practices, including activities like yoga, tai chi, and qigong, combining physical movement with mental focus, potentially influence telomere maintenance through stress reduction. But we need more conclusive research on these.

Wrapping Up: What We Discussed So Far

Understanding our genes has given us important hints about aging. One of the most exciting areas is the length of telomeres and the contribution of the telomerase enzyme.

Two big factors that adversely affect telomeres are almost certain in studies. These factors are too many harmful molecules (reactive oxygen species) and long-lasting and excessive cell inflammation.

So, making lifestyle choices that lower these harmful molecules and reduce chronic inflammation might keep our telomeres from getting shorter. This means better health and maybe even a longer life.

In studies, two things seem really helpful for telomeres: moving our bodies and eating well. Antioxidants, omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin D, and the right level of folate (not folic acid) are good for keeping telomeres longer.

From what I’ve looked at in all these gene studies, chronic and emotional stress seems to be a big deal. Finding ways to manage stress is super important. I wrote about how stress affects our health at a genetic level.

Another factor that makes us age faster is ongoing inflammation in the body, often called inflammaging. I provided steps to lower chronic inflammation and neuroinflammation via healthy lifestyle choices.

With so much focus from scientists and experts in health, medicine, and longevity studies, I’m optimistic that we might have treatments and medicines to slow telomere shortening in the next decades.

While we wait for that to happen, let’s concentrate on the basics: eating healthy foods, getting restful sleep, moving our bodies at least 150 minutes weekly, resting, meditating, and enjoying life as well documented in the litreature. These are known to help us stay healthy and live longer.

Thank you for reading my perspectives. I wish you a healthy and happy life.

If you found this story helpful, you may also check out my other articles on NewsBreak. I write important life lessons based on my decades of research and experience in cognitive, metabolic, and mental health as a postdoctoral researcher and executive consultant.