REACH A RIPE OLD AGE
Forget wrinkle reducing creams and anti-ageing serums – grapefruit is the key to making growing older sweet, not sour
Forget serums and night creams. Here’s how switching up your breakfast can make growing older sweet, not sour
If you want to squeeze more years out of life, start the day with a retro breakfast of pink grapefruit. As well as being a potent source of fibre, vitamins and antioxidants, this citrus is packed with organic pigments called carotenoids, which are responsible for the red, yellow and orange hues of many fruits and vegetables (and, incidentally, flamingos). New research has shown that getting enough of these compounds in your diet can slow ageing at a molecular level.
Scientists at Seoul University analysed blood sample data from thousands of adults in the US and discovered a correlation between carotenoid intake and the length of your telomeres. These are the protective caps at the end of each strand of DNA that guard your chromosomes, acting like the plastic tips at the end of your shoelaces. The faster these telomeres shorten (and so expose your precious DNA strands to damage), the faster the process of biological ageing takes place. This shortens both your lifespan and healthspan, making you more susceptible to age-related disease.
The good news is that the researchers found that people with the highest concentrations of beta-carotene, lycopene, lutein and zeaxanthin in their bloodstream – all carotenoids present in grapefruit – had telomeres up to 8% longer than those with the lowest concentrations. In other words, there’s a link between the amount of carotenoids you consume and your life expectancy.
Given that analysing telomeres is the closest we can get to measuring life’s thread, the extra 8% in length could theoretically add years to the average UK lifespan. That certainly won’t leave a sour taste in your mouth.