Active movements slowed down the human aging process

Physically active people are biologically up to ten years younger
Many people are looking for ways and means to slow down aging or even stop it altogether. Researchers now found that aging of human cells can actually be slowed down. For this, people only have to be very physically active.

Researchers at Brigham Young University found in their study that age is slowed in physically active people. The doctors published a press release on the results of their study.

Sport is healthy and helps some people to reduce stress. Researchers have now found that regular high levels of physical activity can even protect against biological aging. Next time you go jogging, not only will you do something for your condition, but you can also delay your aging. (Image: Jag_cz / fotolia.com)

Physical activity slows aging
Are there ways to age more slowly? Unfortunately, so-called anti-aging creams do not cause this desired effect. If you are ready though; Being physically active and sweating properly can actually stop the aging process. The more we are physically active, the slower the biological aging progresses, the scientists explain.

Physically active people have longer telomeres
For example, if you are 40 years old, it does not automatically mean that your biological age is 40 years, the researchers say. Everyone certainly knows people who look much younger than their current age is. When people are consistently physically active, sufferers have considerably longer telomeres compared to people who have a very low-mobility or moderate-active lifestyle, the experts explain.

What are telomeres?
Telomeres are the protein end caps of our chromosomes. They are like our biological clock and extremely correlate with age. Every time a cell replicates, we lose a tiny bit of our telomeres, explain the physicians. In other words, the older we are, the shorter our telomeres are.

Which means physically highly active?
According to the researchers, adults with a high level of physical activity have telomeres, which lead to an advantage in the biological aging of about nine years, compared to people with poor mobility. The benefit of biological aging is still seven years, compared to moderately active people, the authors add. In order to be considered very active, women had to jog 30 minutes (men 40 minutes) a day and perform this activity five days a week, the researchers explain. If you want to see a real difference in the slowing down of biological aging, less physical activity is not enough, the researchers say. You have to train regularly to a high level.

Physicians examine the data of nearly 6,000 subjects
For their study, the experts examined data from 5,823 adults who had participated in the CDC National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. This measured the length of the telomeres and the data for 62 activities that the participants had performed over a period of 30 days. So, finally, the physical activity could be calculated, explain the authors.

People with poor mobility have about 140 DNA base pairs less
The scientists found in their study that people with low mobility had the shortest telomeres. Those affected showed 140 fewer DNA base pairs at the end of their telomeres compared to highly active humans. Surprisingly, there was no significant difference in telomere length between people with low or moderate physical activity and those with a very poor lifestyle.

What influences the length of the telomeres?
Telomeres are affected by inflammation and oxidative stress. Previous studies have already shown that the length of telomeres is closely linked to these two factors, say the authors. It is also known that physical activity can suppress inflammation and oxidative stress. "We know that regular physical activity helps reduce mortality and prolong life," the researchers report. Some of these benefits seem to be due to the maintenance of telomere length, the authors add. (As)