Eating too much sugar may accelerate cellular ageing

A nutrient-rich diet with few added sugars may slow the rate of biological ageing in women. Scientists found that middle-aged women who ate more foods packed with vitamins, minerals and antioxidants had 'younger looking' cells than those who consumed less nutrient-rich diets.

- EMILY COOKE

They judged the youthfulness of cells by looking at chemical tags known as methyl groups on the surface of DNA molecules. These tweak the activity of specific genes without altering DNA code, a process known as epigenetic modification. The pattern of these methyl groups changes as we age, which is believed to contribute to accelerated cellular ageing. While nutrient-rich diets were tied to slowed ageing, added sugars seemed to dampen the effect.