Vegan diet could turn back body clock in just eight weeks

Switching to a ‘healthy’ plant-based diet low in junk food may reverse one of the biological hallmarks of ageing, a study suggests.

A vegan diet in eight weeks appeared to turn back the clock on certain ageing processes. Picture: iStock

Switching to a vegan diet low in junk food may reverse one of the biological hallmarks of ageing, a study suggests.

Overweight adults who moved to a “healthy” plant-based diet for two months had a more youthful shift in their “epigenetic clock” – a measure of biological age that looks at chemical tags attached to our DNA.

One of the lead authors of the study, Dr Lucia Aronica, of Stanford University, California, said the vegan diet in eight weeks appeared to turn back the clock on certain ageing processes.

“If our biological clock ticks slower, we might have a better chance of staying healthy for longer,” she added.

Aronica added some caveats, however. She said the epigenetic clocks did not specify “which aspects of the diet are responsible, who will benefit the most, or how long these changes need to be maintained” for any benefits.

The researchers said a vegan diet could be unhealthy if it included lots of junk food and lacked nutrients such as B12, zinc and omega-3 fatty acids.

The research involved 21 sets of adult identical twins. One of the twins was asked to eat a “good” omnivorous diet for eight weeks – including between 170 and 225 grams of meat, one egg and some dairy each day.

The other had a “good” vegan diet over the same period. Both groups were asked to eat more vegetables and fibre, and to consume less refined grain, sodium and saturated fat and fewer sugar-sweetened drinks. For the first four weeks, their meals were prepared. They then made their own food after being given nutrition lessons.

The researchers then searched for changes in the epigenome – an array of molecules that attach to our DNA. Aronica said the researchers investigated any genetic changes.

The study could not tell whether the epigenome changes came directly from cutting out meat and dairy. Those who went vegan lost an average 2kg in weight, largely because they consumed 200 fewer calories a day through the meals provided on the first four weeks of the study. The weight loss might have changed their epigenome.

Tom Sanders, professor emeritus of nutrition and dietetics at King’s College London, who was not involved in the study, said it found “some difference which might be favourable in terms of ageing for vegans”.

He added, however, that vegans might be vulnerable to deficiencies that took years to cause harm. He said older vegans seemed “more likely to suffer from muscle loss, low bone density and neurological disorders”.

Dr Duane Mellor, of the British Dietetic Association, said the key for any diet was that it had a wide range, including vegetables, fruit, seeds and nuts.

The study is published in the BMC Medicine, a peer-reviewed journal.

The Times