People have always been looking for the proverbial fountain of youth – and the pursuit of a timeless appearance and a longer, healthier life is still a major goal of countless people today.
While antiaging creams and devices, supplements that claim to last longer, and diets that claim to turn back the clock can help you look or feel younger, there may be an easier way to stop the aging process slow it down. Research has shown that there is one drink that can make you age faster – but eliminating it from your diet could help stop your premature aging.
Which drink is worst for premature aging?
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Science says that when it comes to aging, there is no worse drink than sugar-sweetened lemonade.
According to a 2014 study published in the American Journal of Public Health, sugary beverages can cause premature aging at the cellular level.
To conduct their study, researchers at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) examined data from 5,309 American adults aged 20 to 65 years with no prior history of cardiovascular disease, whose information was provided as part of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys were compiled from 1999 through 2002.
The researchers found that people who drank more sugary drinks had shorter telomeres – stretches of DNA at the end of chromosomes – in their white blood cells. Shortened telomeres in white blood cells have been linked to shorter lifespans and an increased risk of chronic disease.
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“Regular consumption of sugar-sweetened lemonades could influence the development of the disease, not only by stressing the body’s own metabolic control of sugar, but also by accelerating cell aging of the tissue,” explained the lead author of the study Elissa Epel, PhD, a professor of psychiatry at UCSF, in a statement.
“This is the first evidence that soda is linked to telomere shortness,” added Epel. “This finding applies regardless of age, race, income or level of education. The shortening of the telomeres begins long before the onset of the disease.” Epel added that while the study was conducted in adults only, it could also apply to children.
While the study’s researchers were quick to suggest that this finding was an association rather than a definitive causality, the long-term effects are quite pronounced. “With a daily consumption of the current standard serving size of 20 ounces for sugar-sweetened sodas, that equates to 4.6 additional years of aging“The study found that telomeres shorten, similar to smoking cigarettes.
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However, this isn’t the only study linking sugar-sweetened beverages and faster aging. A 2021 review published in Current Nutrition Reports found that consuming sugar-sweetened beverages like soda was linked to changes in gut bacteria, inflammation, and oxidative stress, all of which have been linked to premature aging. The authors of this study had a simple recommendation to mitigate these effects: drink something healthier.
So next time you’re in the mood for some sparkling wine, you might consider a seltzer instead – your body will thank you for it.
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