MARCH 23, 2023 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
New Research Suggests Biological Age Reduction is Possible Through Diet and Lifestyle Changes
[Newtown, CT] – A new case series published March 22, 2023 in the journal Aging suggests that a DNA methylation-supportive diet and lifestyle may reverse biological age in women, adding to previous research conducted in men.
The case series, conducted by researchers from the Institute for Functional Medicine, Virginia Commonwealth University, and the American Nutrition Association, analyzed data from six women with chronological ages ranging from 46 to 65 years, who followed the prescribed diet and lifestyle intervention for eight weeks. The intervention included guidelines for foods to include/avoid, sleep, exercise, and relaxation as well as coaching sessions. In addition, participants were given two dietary supplements to take daily – a greens powder and a probiotic.
The study found that participants’ biological age, as measured by DNA methylation analysis, was reversed by an average of 4.60 years after following the intervention.
“The dramatic biological age reduction we saw in this case series, using widely-accessible, non-pharmaceutical interventions over a relatively short time frame, exceeded our expectations,” said Dr. Kara Fitzgerald, lead author. “These findings add to data we have previously published on middle-aged men, who experienced an average biological age reduction using an intervention that was very similar.”
The researchers also noted that their findings suggest these diet and lifestyle practices may be directly targeting the biological programming of the aging phenomenon itself. “Our case participants were considered healthy and biologically young at the start of the program, which indicates that our investigation was not confounded by the known pro-aging effects of disease,” said Dr. Fitzgerald. “The fact that they still got biologically younger suggests the intervention targeted the underlying biological mechanism of aging itself. Since aging is the number one independent risk factor for chronic disease, the potential implications of being able to affect aging mechanisms are significant.”
To view the study visit: https://www.aging-us.com/article/204602/text
For more information about the intervention and epigenetically-targeted principles used in the study, visit www.youngeryouprogram.com.
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Dr. Fitzgerald’s headshots are available to download HERE.
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ABOUT DR, KARA FITZAGERALD
Dr. Fitzgerald is actively engaged in clinical research on epigenetics and longevity using a diet and lifestyle intervention developed in her practice. Her first clinical study, which found potential bioage-reversing effects of an 8-week DNA methylation-supportive diet and lifestyle in middle-aged men, was published April 12, 2021 in the journal Aging. Now, her latest study, published March 22, 2023 also in the same journal, suggests that similar results are possible in middle-aged women.
Dr. Fitzgerald is the lead author and editor of Case Studies in Integrative and Functional Medicine and is a contributing author to Laboratory Evaluations for Integrative and Functional Medicine and the Institute for Functional Medicine (IFM)’s Textbook for Functional Medicine. With the Helfgott Research Institute, Dr. Fitzgerald is actively engaged in clinical research on the DNA methylome using a diet and lifestyle intervention developed in her practice. She has published a consumer book titled Younger You, a companion cookbook, Better Broths and Healing Tonics and offers Younger You Programs based on her research findings.
Dr. Fitzgerald is on the faculty at IFM, is an IFM Certified Practitioner and lectures globally on functional medicine. She runs a Functional Nutrition Residency program, and maintains a podcast series, New Frontiers in Functional Medicine and an active blog on her website, www.drkarafitzgerald.com. Her clinical practice is in Sandy Hook, Connecticut.
