Biological Age Reversal in Women: A Diet and Lifestyle Case Series

A recent article in Aging revealed the potential for reversing biological age in women through an eight-week methylation-supportive diet and lifestyle program. The study focused on a case series of six women, examining the impact of this program on DNA methylation and various measures of biological aging.

The research was conducted by Kara Fitzgerald, ND,  Tish Campbell, PhD, MScN, Suzanne Makarem, PhD, and Romilly Hodges from the Institute for Functional Medicine, Virginia Commonwealth University, and the American Nutrition Association. Their findings provide valuable insights into age-related changes in women and possible ways to counteract them.

The study expanded on a previous pilot clinical trial, which discovered that male participants aged 50-72 reduced their biological age by an average of 3.23 years through a modifiable lifestyle intervention. The current case series aimed to explore the intervention's effectiveness in women and further understand its potential benefits.

The researchers conducted an eight-week intervention program encompassing dietary advice, sleep optimization, exercise recommendations, relaxation techniques, supplemental probiotics, phytonutrients, and nutritional coaching. Blood samples were collected at the beginning and end of the program for DNA methylation and biological age analysis, utilizing the Horvath DNAmAge clock (2013) and normalized through the SeSAMe pipeline.

In the study, five out of six participants saw their biological age decrease by 1.22 to 11.01 years compared to their initial biological age. A notable difference (p=.039) was found in the average biological age of participants before (55.83 years) and after (51.23 years) the 8-week intervention, with an average reduction of 4.60 years. The starting average chronological age was 57.9 years, except for one; all participants had a lower biological age than their actual age. This indicates that the observed changes in biological age may be associated with underlying aging processes rather than improvements in disease conditions.

“This case series of women participants extend the previous pilot study of this intervention in men, indicating that favorable biological age changes may be achievable in both sexes, said Hodges in a statement. “In addition, the investigation of otherwise-healthy individuals, rather than those with diagnosed disease, suggests an influence directly on underlying mechanisms of aging instead of disease-driven aging.”