Exercise can make you young biologically
Regular exercise and physical activity could make you 9 to10 years young biologically. A new research from Brigham Young University reveals that exercise could slow down cellular aging. The study, published in the medical journal Preventive Medicine, finds that people who have consistently high levels of physical activity have significantly longer telomeres than those who have sedentary lifestyles. Telomeres are tiny protein end caps found on the end of DNA strands (chromosomes) and they protect the DNA from damage during cell division and replication. Telomeres are correlated with age, each time a cell replicates / ages, its telomeres naturally shorten and fray and exercise may slow the fraying of telomeres. A study found that shortest telomeres came from sedentary people and had 140 base pairs of DNA less at the end of their telomeres than highly active people [1].
Recent research found that adults with high physical activity levels have telomeres with a biological aging advantage of 9 to 10 years over those who are non active, and a 7 year advantage compared to those who are moderately active. Highly active means women had to engage in 30 minutes of jogging/brisk walk per day (40 minutes for men), five days a week.
Also physical activity can slow brain aging by as much as 10 years, according to a new study. Studies found that people who used to do more physical activity showed higher scores on cognitive tests and better brain health. Several factors such as high blood pressure, diabetes, smoking & alcohol consumption and heart disease could impair blood flow to the brain and therefore compromise cognitive/brain functions [2].
But over exercise may result in free radical-mediated oxidative damage / overproduction of reactive oxygen (ROS) and nitrogen species. Muscle fibers/myocytes contain both enzymatic and nonenzymatic (e.g., GSH/Glutathione, uric acid, bilirubin, etc) antioxidants defense networks that exist in both the extracellular and vascular space and work as a complex unit to regulate ROS. These antioxidants protect muscle fibers from oxidative injury during increased oxidant production (e.g., intense or prolonged exercise) [3]. Antioxidant enzymes (by which free radicals are neutralized) includes superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase, and catalase, peroxiredoxin, glutaredoxin, and thioredoxin reductase that contribute to cellular protection against oxidation. Various dietary antioxidants may contribute to cellular protection against free radicals and other ROS including vitamin E, vitamin C, and carotenoids.
