Do you want to live 12 years longer? Go for a run

Definition: "An ergogenic aid is any substance or phenomenon that enhances performance "

07.11.2023

You may increase your life expectancy by 12 years if you start running. An American study suggests this. The researchers determined the rate of aging at the molecular level in a group of four thousand runners and non-runners.

Do you want to live 12 years longer? Go for a run

Study

American researchers at Brigham Young University analyzed data from 4,458 adults who participated in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES).

A laboratory had determined the telomere length in the DNA of white blood cells from the study participants. That length says something about aging on a molecular level. The researchers then determined whether the study participants were runners or joggers and if so, how many minutes per week they exercised.

Results
In the cells of the runners who ran at least 75 minutes weekly, the telomeres were 190 base pairs longer than in the cells of the study participants who were not physically active.

The table below tells you this. Click on it for a larger version.

Telomeres shorten during the aging process. The researchers calculated that the measured difference between the telomere length of the runners and non-active runners corresponds to an age difference of 12.5 years.

Now it could be that runners have a healthier lifestyle than non-runners, and that that lifestyle explains the difference. But after the researchers had removed the effect of age - as far as possible - the difference was still there.

Conclusion
"More research remains to be performed to better understand the mechanisms of this association, more firmly establish a causal connection, and explore the lack of differences in telomere length for the insufficient joggers/runners", write the researchers.

"Nonetheless, the present findings support the current U.S. vigorous activity guidelines and encourage engagement in an active lifestyle through regular jogging and running at least 75 min per week."

Source:
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2023 Oct 2;20(19):6872.

More:
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Half an hour exercise a day? Make that three hours... 20.12.2016
Walking, not running, delays cell aging 05.04.2012
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Raise your VO2max to delay ageing 18.04.2011

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Walking at brisk pace is healthier Walkers live longer than people with a sedentary lifestyle. The health effects of walking are even greater when people are usually walking at a brisk pace.	Endurance training, interval training makes biological clock tick slower If you want to live longer, then exercise. Go running or cycling, and make sure your fitness improves - read: that your body's ability to absorb oxygen increases.	A longevity drug that protects against almost all causes of death And this miracle drug is exercise, epidemiologists at Hallym University College of Medicine in South Korea discovered.