Vegan Diet Appears to Slow Aging in 8-Week-Long Study

Want to look your best? Consider going vegan – that’s the implication from a new trial that compared the aging effects of vegan and omnivorous diets.

After splitting 21 sets of identical twins into 2 groups, which were either fed a vegan or omnivorous diet for 8 weeks, the researchers from Stanford University measured the participants’ DNA methylation levels to determine how much they had biologically aged.

The researchers found that individuals on the vegan diet showed decreases in their “epigenetic aging clocks” – decreases that weren’t observed in their twins fed the omnivorous diet.

The vegan dieters also showed decreases in the ages of their hearts, livers and inflammatory and metabolic systems. Again, these decreases weren’t observed in the omnivorous dieters.

However, before any vegan influencers rush to market themselves as anti-aging gurus, it’s worth acknowledging that other causes could be behind these rejuvenating benefits. For instance, the vegan participants lost more weight over the course of their eight-week diets than the omnivorous participants – weight loss that could account for their slower aging clocks.

The results were published in BMC Medicine.                                                        

Turning back the epigenetic clock

DNA methylation is a leading marker for measuring biological aging. The pattern of a person’s DNA methylation is strongly correlated with their aging, making a person’s “epigenetic clock” a viable measurement of their age.

In their trial, the researchers from Stanford and TruDiagnostic (a company that sells epigenetic testing kits) measured the DNA methylation levels of the 42 participants by analyzing blood samples taken at the beginning, middle and end of the 8-week-long diet period.

For their diets, the omnivore twins ate between 170 and 225 grams of meat, 1 egg and 1.5 servings of dairy each day. The vegan half of the cohort were instructed to avoid all animal products. Diets were assessed via 24-hour recalls and participant logs.

Most of the study participants (77%) were women, with an average age of 39.9.

At the end of the trial, the researchers observed that, unlike the omnivorous participants, the vegan ones exhibited significant decreases in epigenetic age acceleration.

On closer inspection, 5 out of 11 tested organ systems (inflammation, heart, hormone, liver and metabolic systems) showed biological age reductions in the vegan twins, too.

However, these aging differences weren’t so clear when other measurements were used. An analysis of the participants’ total number of stem cell replication cycles, for instance, showed no significant differences between the vegan and omnivorous dieters.

Nevertheless, by focusing on the epigenetic data, the researchers concluded that vegan diets appear to provide short-term anti-aging benefits. These coveted effects, they say, could be due to the rich antioxidant content and anti-inflammatory properties found in plant products like vegetables and nuts.

They stress that any long-term adherence to a vegan diet, though, should include vitamin and nutrient supplementation.

“This research shows us that certain markers in our DNA, known as epigenetic biomarkers, can give us valuable information about how our diet affects our body at the cellular level,” Varun B Dwaraka, head of bioinformatics at TruDiagnostic, told Technology Networks.

“Essentially, this means that by studying these markers, we can better understand how different foods influence our aging process. This insight opens up possibilities for customizing diets in a way that might help people stay healthy and age better, tailoring eating habits according to how someone’s body specifically reacts to different foods.” “This could be a big step forward in using science to improve health and wellness through personalized nutrition.”

Skepticism from others

Others, however, have questioned the conclusions of the study.

In a statement made to the UK’s Science Media Centre, Dr. Duane Mellor, a registered dietician and spokesperson for the British Dietetic Association, noted that the weight lost by the vegan participants could easily explain the epigenetic results.

“Those following the vegan diet ate fewer calories and lost weight which could easily be the reason why the participants DNA was methylated in a healthier way that is associated with longevity,” Mellor said.

“Although the study compared a vegan diet to an omnivorous diet, these diets were not entirely matched with vegan participants on average consuming around 200kcal fewer per day, resulting in an average 2 kg weight loss. This was generally caused by those on the vegan diet eating less protein and fat than the omnivore group. It is possible that a reduction in energy intake could potentially have altered how the participants [sic] DNA was changed.”

“Another important consideration was that the vegan group were asked to eat twice the number of portions of vegetables, more fruit and more legumes, nuts and seeds than the omnivore group,” Mellor continued. “In part this was to replace meat, eggs and dairy foods, but this would mean fiber intake as well as the vitamin and mineral intakes are likely to be different between group, which also could in part explain the differences reported. Finally, the omnivores were asked to eat 6-8oz (175-225g) of meat per day, which seems a lot compared to the UK recommendations.”

The study acknowledges partial funding by the Vogt Foundation, which has a mission “to assist plant-based development and protect all animals while supporting organizations that produce animal alternative products or protect animals.”

Reference: Dwaraka VB, Aronica L, Carreras-Gallo N, et al. Unveiling the epigenetic impact of vegan vs. omnivorous diets on aging: insights from the Twins Nutrition Study (TwiNS). BMC Med. 2024;22(1):301. doi: 10.1186/s12916-024-03513-w

Source: bing.com