United States: A vegan diet can slow signs of aging at a molecular level in just eight weeks, according to new research. The findings, published on July 28 in the journal BMC Medicine, come from the Stanford Twin Study, which is also featured in the new Netflix’s documentary series “You Are What You Eat: A Twin Experiment.”
Study Design and Initial Results
This eight-week study involved 22 pairs of identical twins, with one twin from each pair following a “healthy vegan” diet and the other following a “healthy omnivorous” diet. Initial results showed that participants on the vegan diet ate fewer calories and lost more weight, supporting the benefits of a short-term plant-based diet.
Does a vegan diet slow down aging?
These specific research published this week indicates that in the addition to these benefits and consuming a vegan diet also improved epigenetic markers associated with aging.
Think of these markers are like the clocks hidden in your genes and you might be forty years old but your biological age could be different based on the lifestyle factors like diet and the exercise influence.
Biological Age and Epigenetic Markers.
There is no single unified measure for reading biological age through epigenetics. Instead, the research team employed multiple tests to read these “clocks.”
“We didn’t really expect much from these clocks, which was the surprising bit because out of all the clocks that we studied, there were about 12 that showed consistent decreases in their epigenetic age,” first study author Varun B, Dwaraka PhD, head of bioinformatics and principal investigator at TruDiagnostic, told Healthline.
Study Phases and Methodology
Vegan vs. Omnivore: which diet is healthier?
The study was conducted in the two phases.
Almost during first four weeks and the participants were provided meals at no cost by the nationwide meal delivery company Terifecta Nutrition the company was not involved in sponsoring the study. In the second half of the participants were responsible for cooking their own meals.