Well, what a miserable January it’s been. I’ve been laid low with a lingering virus that has absolutely wiped me out and which I hope none of you have suffered from. I suspect it’s Influenza A (H3N2) Subclade K – the new variant currently surging in the UK, Europe and the US. But from my sick bed I rise with news of a few recently published studies that have piqued my interest in ageing well.
Let’s start with one of the more intriguing studies – this one’s for anyone with rheumatoid arthritis or osteoarthritis. I have neither but my grandmother suffered from RA for decades so I’m planning ahead! This review of five clinical trials, involving 221 participants, found that supplementing with pomegranate juice (either by drinking between 10 and 200 millilitres daily or by taking 500 milligrams of pomegranate extract, daily), had positive results, following 6-12 weeks. I’ll quote: ‘In all of the trials, there were improvements in RA or OA symptoms, as well as oxidative stress biomarkers and/or inflammatory biomarkers.’
This study follows a series of studies coming to a similar conclusion (all rather small unfortunately, as there’s not much in it for Big Pharma with their big research bucks), like this one and this one. Researchers always like it (as do we) when a succession of studies points to a similar result – in this case, pomegranate juice having multiple benefits and no negative side effects.
Nor is it just the juice or extract: a study last year found that supplementing with pomegranate seed oil delayed the progression of Alzheimer’s and (in rats) helped alleviate colitis. It appears that the pomegranate is a veritable magic box of powerfully affirmative biochemicals. It’s easy enough to add a carton of pomegranate juice, or a few pomegranates, to your weekly shop and to self-monitor the results. Let us know if you’re ‘on the pomegranate juice’ and whether it’s working, or not. We also like pomegranate seeds sprinkled on just about anything – both beautiful and delicious. Incidentally, pomegranates are in season for another month – make the most of them!
Kimchi is another ingredient showing a similarly positive research trajectory. Because my immune system clearly hasn’t manage to fight off this winter’s flu strain, I was intrigued by a study published in December that found eating kimchi daily for 12 weeks caused immune cells to became better at spotting potential threats and alerting other immune cells to work more efficiently. Obviously, I should have started my programme of daily kimchi consumption back in August (or earlier) in readiness for winter germs. Instead, I’ve started it now, adding a scoop to my lunch.
This study was small (and all the participants were overweight so results could be different in a different group of participants), but it follows several other studies finding links between improved immunity (which includes dampening excessive immune responses as much as supporting underperforming immunity). As most of our immune cells live in the gut, it perhaps shouldn’t come as a surprise. You can read the full study here.
Or have a glance at this earlier study published in 2016 which proposed that ‘Kimchi possesses anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, antioxidant, anticancer, anti-obesity, probiotic properties, cholesterol reduction, and antiaging properties.’
Or take a look at a 2023 study that found that ‘Fermented foods … enhance the immune system, improve gastrointestinal health, and lower the risk of developing various inflammatory diseases.’
For those of you doing Dry January (which I’ve done more by circumstance than by design), and wondering if you’ll make it to the end of the month, take note of a study published this week linking two or more daily alcoholic drinks (over several years) to a 91% higher risk of colorectal cancer. 88,000 participants were followed over 14 years although the researchers only investigated self-reported daily drinking and not binge drinking (classified as 4-5 glasses). Hang on to this headline if you’re struggling to stay dry.
So, instead of reaching for an alcoholic drink, try a glass of pomegranate juice. Alternatively reach for a piece of dark chocolate. We’ve written frequently about the age-well benefits of chocolate: researchers now speculate that its magic ingredient could be theobromine (a cocoa derived alkaloid). This new study found that people with higher levels of theobromine in their blood were 1.1 – 1.6 epigenetic years younger than peers of the same age. The researchers were quick to point out that we shouldn’t all rush off and gorge on chocolate – but a couple of squares (70-85%) or a cup of coca a day might be both pleasurable and effectively anti-aging.
I’ve struggled to move as much as I normally do, thanks to Influenza A (H3N2) Subclade K . But sometimes that happens. I’ve taken heart from a new study in Nature that suggests we might need even less exercise than originally thought. Wearable devices – that’s the phones, watches etc capturing exactly how much and how frequently we move – appear to show that even small bouts of exercise can have meaningful health benefits. According to this study, only five extra minutes of moderate-to-vigorous activity a day could prevent 6% of all deaths among the 20% least active participants. Sometimes – when we’re incapacitated for example – it’s good to know how little we can get away with. At least we don’t need to stress ourselves about our inactivity. You can read the full study here but bear in mind this study has caused a fair bit of discussion and not everyone agrees with its findings.
And thanks to Influenza A (H3N2) Subclade K, I’ve also not managed to get out and trial my various walking poles as much as I planned to. So that’s for another day.
I have, however, done a fair bit of sitting. So last night I was delighted to tuck into a hot-off-the-press study that looked at ‘good’ sitting versus ‘bad’ sitting. Not all sitting is equal (although I confess to having done rather a lot of both!). Good, active sitting has been found to be beneficial for brain and cognition. This is sitting in which our brains work – perhaps we’re reading a book or playing a game or working on a computer. Bad, inactive sitting (yes, passively watching TV or scrolling social media) has no benefits.
‘Total sitting time has been shown to be related to brain health; however, sitting is often treated as a single entity, without considering the specific type of activity,’ explained the researcher Paul Gardiner from the University of Queensland in Australia. ‘Most people spend many hours sitting each day, so the type of sitting really matters … These findings show that small everyday choices – like reading instead of watching television – may help keep your brain healthier as you age.’ Gardner reviewed 85 studies before noticing that active sitting lead to ‘overwhelmingly positive associations with cognitive health, enhancing cognitive functions such as executive function, situational memory, and working memory.’ Meanwhile passive sitting was consistently associated with negative cognitive outcomes, including increased risk of dementia. Gardner is now calling for health bodies to make this clearer: it’s not sitting that kills us so much as what we do when we’re sitting.
Of course we still need to move. But instead of slumping in front of Netflix, perhaps pick up a book or play a game of cards. You can read the report here
I wish you all a healthy and active (sitting or otherwise) February!
Annabel
Leave a Reply