Many scientists believe that the reason things in our body deteriorate as we get older is because of the telomeres getting shorter. That’s because the older a person gets, the more often their cells will have divided, and the shorter their telomeres will be.
What if there was a way to keep the telomeres from getting shorter? Or better yet, what if there was a way to actually increase your telomere length? An astounding new study says there is. And here’s the best part. It’s free and easy!
The new study (1) looked at the remarkable connection between fat cells and telomere length. They studied 55 patients with an average age of 48.5 years. All of these patients were obese and decided to have gastric bypass surgery for weight loss, (that’s where they tie of some of the stomach so it’s smaller and people can’t eat as much).
Before their surgery and one year after surgery, the telomere length of the patients was measured. The results are almost too good to believe. Normally telomeres lose about 20-40 base pairs in a year, but in the case of these patients, that did not happen. Even after one year, the telomere lengths remained essentially the same. But as significant as that is, it’s not the most extraordinary finding in the study.
Fat cells make inflammation. And as the body becomes more inflamed, a marker in the blood called CRP (C-reactive protein) becomes elevated. You can easily have this protein measured in your blood because it is a test that every lab can do. The healthy range for CRP is less than 0.8 mg/L. People with excessive fat often have higher CRP readings because of the increased inflammation in their bodies. And that’s where Dr. Morton’s study really gets interesting.
Besides measuring telomeres before and after the patients’ weight loss, the CRP levels were also measured. Many of his patients had an initial CRP over 7. That’s almost 900% over the healthy range. The telomeres in these patients not only did not get shorter. They actually got longer — 2.83% longer!
In case you are wondering… That’s Amazing.
I have heard of therapies that prevent telomere shortening but I have never heard of any therapy that will increase the telomere length. And now we have it…
Just lose your excess weight.
Studies have already shown that people with shorter telomeres have higher rates of cancer and neurodegenerative diseases, such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s. And, not surprisingly, they also have shorter life spans. According to Dr. Morton, “This is the first study to demonstrate that weight loss leads to decreased aging by increasing telomere length.” Simply losing weight is the best way to extend your life.
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