A new study, published on the website of theAmerican Journal of public health announces “linking the consumption of sugary sodas and telomere length in healthy adults”. To sum up, researchers at the University of California at San Francisco have shown that drinking sodas with sugar (and not with sweeteners) daily has an influence on the region located at the end of our chromosomes (the famous telomeres) which is responsible (among other things) for cellular aging.
Shorter telomeres mean shorter life expectancy
Telomeres prevent the DNA present in our chromosomes from being damaged. With old age, these telomeres naturally shorten, which is accompanied by aging of the cells. Shorter telomeres are also linked to a shorter life expectancy or increased stress as well as the development of certain diseases such as diabetes or cancer.
This study involved 5,309 American adults, ages 20 to 65, with no history of diabetes or cardiovascular disease, and took place from 1999 to 2002. Researchers found that people who drank sugary drinks every days also had shorter telomeres. By making projections, they concluded that drinking 25 cl of soda each day shortened life expectancy by 1.9 years and that drinking 60 cl shortened it by 4.6 years. Figures almost equivalent to those recorded in smokers (smoking being another factor in telomere shortening).
A toxic gesture for the metabolism
“This is probably due to the fact that by drinking a soda, we absorb a massive dose of sugar in a few seconds in our body: a toxic gesture for the metabolism” explains Pr Elissa Epel, professor of psychiatry at the University of California.
This emphasizes that there is nothing irreversible about telomere length. It is indeed possible to increase their length by 10% in 5 years by adopting a healthy diet… and without sodas!
