Suboptimal dietary patterns are associated with accelerated biological aging in young adulthood: A study with twins.
Level 3 - non-randomized controlled study
Cross-sectional analysis within a longitudinal population-based twin cohort
PubMed 39731880 · doi:10.1016/j.clnu.2024.12.018
What was done
Researchers analyzed data from 826 young adult twins aged 21–25 years participating in the population-based FinnTwin12 study. Dietary intake was assessed via a food frequency questionnaire, and latent class analysis identified six distinct dietary patterns. Biological aging was measured using DNA methylation-based epigenetic clocks (GrimAge and DunedinPACE). Associations were evaluated using multivariable linear regression at the individual level (adjusting for sex, energy intake, smoking, alcohol, BMI, and sports participation) and within-twin pair models to account for shared environment and genetic factors.
What was found
The abstract does not provide exact numerical effect sizes or p-values. Six dietary patterns were derived: High fast food/low fruits and vegetables (F&V), Plant-based, Health-conscious, Western with infrequent fish, Western with regular fish, and Balanced average. At the individual level, GrimAge acceleration was slower in the Plant-based, Health-conscious, and Balanced-average patterns compared to High fast food/low F&V, and faster in Western with infrequent fish compared to Balanced average. Adding BMI and sports participation modestly attenuated these associations, though the difference between Balanced-average and High fast food/low F&V remained statistically significant. For DunedinPACE, slower aging in the Plant-based pattern became non-significant after adjustment for BMI and sports. Within-twin pair associations persisted across all pairs and dizygotic twins but were attenuated among monozygotic twins.
Why it matters
This study shows that the negative impact of poor diet on cellular biological aging is detectable early in life, during young adulthood. It also highlights that part of the observed relationship between diet and biological aging markers is explained by genetic confounding and concurrent lifestyle behaviors such as physical activity.
Limits
The study utilized a cross-sectional design that cannot determine causality or temporal sequence. Dietary intake was self-reported through food frequency questionnaires, introducing recall and reporting bias. Specific effect sizes, confidence intervals, and p-values were omitted from the abstract. Finally, attenuation of results in monozygotic twin analyses indicates that genetic factors partially confound the observed associations.
Cited by
- partial Smoking, getting an X-ray, consuming ultra-processed foods, excessive drinking, and frequent flying accelerate the aging process.