Oh, sugar sugar! Too much in diet accelerates biological age, study says

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Cut down on sugar and you’ll age better.

That’s the suggestion of a new study published Monday in JAMA Network Open.

The work by researchers at the University of California – San Francisco found that cutting out 10 grams of sugar daily — the equivalent of a Krispy Kreme donut or three Chips Ahoy! cookies — could turn back your biological clock by 2.4 months.

The study looked at the self-reported food record of 342 mostly obese women aged 36 to 43  to see how two diets — one vitamin and mineral rich, the other heavy on the sugar — affected the participants’ “epigenetic clock.”

Saliva samples were used to estimate a person’s biological age — how old your cells are as opposed to your chronological age — based on DNA changes.

The research found women who stuck to a Mediterranean diet versus a high sugar one had a “significantly lower” biological age on average.

“We knew that high levels of added sugars are linked to worsened metabolic health and early disease, possibly more than any other dietary factor,” said Dr. Elissa Epel, co-senior study author and professor in the UCSF Department of Psychiatry and Behavorial Sciences, as quoted by the Daily Mail.

“Now we know that accelerated epigenetic aging is underlying this relationship, and this is likely one of many ways that excessive sugar intake limits healthy longevity.”

As cells age, the more wear and tear they develop, and that increases the risk of chronic diseases like cancer.

“The diets we examined align with existing recommendations for preventing disease and promoting health, and they highlight the potency of antioxidant and anti-inflammatory nutrients in particular,” said Dr. Dorothy Chiu, lead study author and postdoctoral researcher at the UCSF Osher Center for Integrative Health.

“From a lifestyle medicine standpoint, it is empowering to see how heeding these recommendations may promote a younger cellular age relative to chronological age.”