Aging is not only about how many years a person has lived.
According to researchers at King’s College London, two people of the same age can be in very different biological condition.
For this reason, scientists today work with the concept of biological age, which describes how resilient the body actually is.
What is biological age?
Biological age can be explained with a simple image.
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Two cars can be the same age, but if one has been driven much more, its engine will be more worn. In the same way, the human body can age at different speeds.
In the study, published in Aging, the researchers used blood samples to measure biological age.
Among other things, they examined DNA methylation, which involves small chemical changes in DNA that change with age.
In addition, they measured the length of telomeres, which protect the cells’ genetic material and become shorter as we get older.
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These measures are often used in health research because they are linked to the risk of diseases later in life.
How the study was conducted
The investigation is based on data from two large European population studies, TwinsUK and KORA, involving more than 1,600 participants.
The researchers compared the participants’ biological age with various natural substances that could be measured in their blood.
It is important to emphasize that this is an observational study.
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This means that the researchers can only identify associations and cannot prove that one factor directly causes another.
The results therefore cannot be used as concrete health advice.
What the researchers found
The researchers found that people with higher levels of the substance theobromine, which is found in cocoa beans, in their blood often had a biological age that appeared younger than their actual age.
According to the study, this did not apply to other similar substances.
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Professor Jordana Bell from King’s College London explains that the finding does not mean that people should change their dietary habits.
Instead, the results provide new knowledge about how natural substances from plants can influence the body’s biological processes and help researchers gain a better understanding of aging.
Sources: Science Daily, and Aging.
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