Let’s know ‘The Main Drink That Hastens Aging’ People have been looking for the fabled fountain of youth since the beginning of time. For innumerable people today, achieving agelessness and living longer, better lives remains a top priority.
While anti-aging products like lotions, devices, and diets that promise to turn back the hands of time may make you feel younger, there may be a simpler approach to slow down the aging process. Eliminating one particular drink from your diet may help stop premature aging in its tracks, according to research, which shows that it can make you age more quickly.
The Main Drink That Hastens Aging
There is no beverage worse for aging than sugar-sweetened soda. Regular soda consumption has been linked to an increased risk of weight gain and a number of ailments, and research suggests that it may even have cellular effects on your body. These elements all have a role in unhealthy, quicker aging.
According to Amy Goodson, MS, RD, CSSD, LD, author of The Sports Nutrition Playbook and member of our Expert Medical Board, regularly consuming sugar-sweetened beverages might ultimately increase your risk for a number of conditions like obesity, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and more. “Adding excessive sugar to the aging equation does not help,” the author writes, “since our risk for these diseases inherently grows as we age.”
Check out the Eating Habits To Avoid if You’re Over 50 after reading on to find out more about how soda can affect your aging process.
Soda can increase your risk for disease
Consistent soda use increases your likelihood of developing diseases for which aging is already a risk factor, which is one of the main ways it can hasten the aging process. This includes conditions like type 2 diabetes and heart disease, as Goodson pointed out.
Regardless of whether a person was also obese, a 2019 study published in Nutrients found a link between drinking sugar-sweetened beverages and type 2 diabetes and coronary heart disease. One smaller cohort research with female teachers in California indicated that, after a 25-year follow-up, drinking one or more servings of sugar-sweetened beverages per day was related to an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and stroke.
While soda might raise your risk of sickness, it can also have a harmful impact on your body’s cells.
Also Read: Coffee Habits That Speed Up Aging, According To A Dietitian
Soda can impact your body on a cellular level
A 2014 study that appeared in the American Journal of Public Health found that sugary beverages can speed up cellular aging.
However, data from 5,309 U.S. adults between the ages of 20 and 65 who had no history of cardiovascular disease were examined for this study by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). The data were collected as part of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys from 1999 to 2002.
The telomeres—sections of DNA at the ends of chromosomes—found in white blood cells of people who consumed more sugar-sweetened beverages were shorter. White blood cell telomere shortening has been associated with a shorter life expectancy and a higher risk of chronic disease.
Elissa Epel, PhD, a professor of psychiatry at UCSF, said in a statement that regular use of sugar-sweetened drinks “could influence disease development, not only by straining the body’s metabolic management of sugars but also through accelerated cellular aging of tissues.”
Epel continued, “This is the first evidence that soda is linked to telomere shortness. “Regardless of age, color, income, or degree of education, this conclusion was true. Long before the manifestation of a disease, telomere shortening begins.” Although the study was only done on adults, Epel continued, this might also apply to kids.
The long-term impacts are rather noticeable, even if the study’s authors were keen to stress out that this finding is only a connection and not a proof of causation. According to the study, consuming 20-ounce serving sizes of sugar-sweetened sodas on a daily basis results in 4.6 extra years of aging, which is comparable to the amount of telomere shortening brought on by smoking cigarettes.
Also Read: Five Foods To Have On Hand In Case You Become Ill
Soda can mess with your gut, too
Also, consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages, such as soda, was connected to oxidative stress, inflammation, and changes in gut bacteria and the intestinal microbiota, all of which are linked to premature aging, according to an analysis published in Current Nutrition Reports in 2021. The authors of that study made a straightforward suggestion to help lessen these effects: if possible, swap soda for a healthy beverage.
Your body will appreciate it if, the next time you have a need for something bubbly, you opt for a seltzer with lemon.
Also Read: Dietitians Explain The Surprising Effects of Eating Grapes
Some FAQs
What foods slow down aging?
Watercress. The advantages of watercress for health are impressive. Bell pepper in red. Papaya, Blueberries, Broccoli, Spinach, Nuts, Avocado, and Red Bell Peppers are all rich in antioxidants, which are the best when it comes to delaying the effects of aging.
What can I drink to look younger?
Green tea is especially rich in polyphenols, which are antioxidants.
By scavenging free radicals before they cause skin damage, the polyphenols in green tea may help prevent environmental stressors like pollution and the sun from accelerating the aging of the skin.
