What You Need To Know About Telomeres
16th Apr 2024
Telomeres and Aging: Ways to Improve Telomeres
Why are telomeres important? In this article, we go over a range of frequently asked questions about telomeres and aging.
Find what you’re looking for below:
- What are Telomeres?
- How do Telomeres Cause Aging?
- Do Longer Telomeres Mean Longer Life?
- What Destroys Telomeres?
- Telomeres Supplements
Telomeres aren’t anything revolutionary, they’re simply the ends of our chromosomes, so we all have them. This area is full of repetitive DNA sequences that protect the ends of our chromosomes from getting tangled or frayed. So, what do telomeres do? Think of a telomere as the plastic tip of shoelaces.
In our bodies, our cells divide so that we can grow and for our body to heal itself. The thing is, as each cell divides, the telomeres become slightly shorter. In terms of what happens when telomeres run out, eventually, they become so short that the cell can’t divide successfully, so it dies, aging our tissue.
Why do telomeres shorten? Essentially, when cells divide, a piece of RNA helps it get started, but these don’t stick to the end of the DNA strand, meaning the duplicated cell ends up shorter than the original. When this cell divides, the newly replicated cell will be even shorter. To combat this, telomeres are repeated sequences at the end of DNA strands that protect our DNA from getting shorter each time, but these too get shorter in each split.
What is telomerase? In certain cell types that divide quite a lot, such as germline (egg and sperm) and somatic cells, an enzyme called telomerase adds more repeated DNA sequences to the end of the DNA so the telomere doesn’t get too short, helping restore cell division. In somatic cells, the telomerase is much smaller, and when they get to a certain size, the cells will no longer divide and will eventually die, contributing to aging. In germline cells, the telomerase remains active and is passed from one generation to the next, otherwise, we would go extinct as our reproductive cells wouldn’t get passed down.
As telomeres shorten, we start to age as cells begin to die. Telomere shortening has been linked with cancer and a higher risk of death since cell division is needed for the growth of new skin, blood, bone and various cells.
Remember, too, that without telomeres, the ends of our DNA would be frayed and could fuse together, potentially corrupting our cell’s genetic blueprint. This could cause malfunction, cancer and cell death, or the cell could try to fix something that wasn’t broken, causing havoc in our DNA.
Can You Improve Your Telomeres?
Remember, telomeres keep a balance in healthy cells. If a cell keeps dividing without having any limitations, this can cause cancer growth, so telomeres maintain a balance between cell lifespan and longevity.
Scientists are not yet sure whether using telomerase could prevent normal cells from aging but there have been studies keeping human cells from dividing far beyond normal, with these cells not becoming cancerous.
How Can I Lengthen My Telomeres Naturally? If you’re looking to naturally improve your telomeres, it has been found that exercise can help. Aerobic exercise for six months or more has a significant effect on the rate of telomere shortening. Getting enough vitamin D has also been linked to longer telomere length as it increases the activity of telomerase, as has getting enough quality sleep and managing stress.
What Foods are Good for Telomeres? Eat plenty of foods with omega-3 fatty acids, such as mackerel, salmon, herring, oysters, sardines, anchovies, walnuts, chia seeds and soy beans. It’s also suggested that eating a balanced and nutritious diet, such as the Mediterranean diet, can help lengthen your telomeres.This diet includes seafood, vegetables like spinach, broccoli, kale, cucumber, capsicum, mushrooms and potatoes, fruits like grapes, berries and melons, nuts and seeds and dairy.
If a cell becomes too short, it may die, so the longer our telomeres, the younger they are and the fewer health problems we have.
When it comes to telomeres and cancer, in our bodies, cancer cells divide more often, so the telomeres are very short. You might think that is great because then the cell dies, but what happens is that many cancer cells make more telomerase, preventing the telomeres from getting short and dying off. Cancers such as pancreatic, prostate, bladder, lung, bone, kidney and head and neck have short telomeres.
This is actually a way to test if you have cancer — by seeing how short your telomeres are — and it gives scientists a possible way to fight cancer by blocking telomerase activity in cancer cells so that they can die off. This has risks, though, as we need telomerase for wound healing, the production of blood cells and immune cells and fertility.
It's believed that those with shorter telomeres have shorter lives, with one study finding that in those over 60 years old, those with shorter telomeres were three times more likely to die from heart disease and eight times more likely to die from an infectious disease. Whether short telomeres contribute to aging or are a sign of aging is not known.
So, when it comes to the question of, ‘Is it better to have long or short telomeres?’ longer is better, but longer telomeres aren’t indicative of a long life. For example, mice have longer telomeres than humans but live only a few years.
It was, however, found that humans with longer telomeres live an average of five years longer than humans with shorter ones, suggesting that those who have short telomeres could have their lifespan extended by five years.
Scientists are currently looking into using telomerase to mass-produce cells for various human diseases and issues, such as more insulin-producing cells to cure diabetes, cartilage cells for arthritis, skin cells to heal severe burns and wounds and muscle cells to treat muscular dystrophy. Having access to an abundance of human cells in the lab could also pave the way for new drugs and gene therapies.
It's interesting to keep in mind that there have been studies challenging the anti-aging findings of having longer telomeres. One study found that those with longer telomeres tend to develop benign and cancerous tumours, as well as clonal haematopoiesis, an age-related blood condition.
Do People with Longer Telomeres Look Younger? A study by Biobank UK found that there was a link between telomere length and a more youthful appearance, using customer experience along with their genetic data to determine that 95% of those with longer telomeres had better facial skin than those with shorter telomeres.
It’s been found that living a sedentary lifestyle is linked with shorter telomeres, with sedentary women found to have telomeres that showed they were biologically eight years older than those who exercised more.
Stress, depression and smoking also increase the speed of telomere shortening, increase the rate of biological aging, as does getting not enough sleep, even in children. These factors also increase inflammation, which is also linked to telomere shortening (plus many other diseases as we age). So, for how to lengthen telomeres, lifestyle changes are the answer.
If you’re looking for supplements that could potentially slow down the aging of cells, there are a few that may be able to help. Before taking any, make sure to speak with your medical professional to determine if they’re right for you and your medical background.
- Vitamin D: As mentioned, increases the activity of telomerase, so may help keep your telomeres at optimal length.
- Omega-3 fatty acids: May reduce inflammation and oxidative stress, two factors that accelerate telomere shortening.
- TA-65: 250-unit capsules have been shown to significantly lengthen telomeres, but they are expensive.
- Antioxidants: Antioxidants like vitamins C and E can combat oxidative stress and free radicals that damage our DNA and cells, including our telomeres. Try out POM-Q10, a combination of amla, pomegranate and coenzyme Q10 that helps counteract oxidative stress.
End Note
Our bodies are incredibly intricate and complicated, not to mention everyone is different. Where one method or supplement may work for one individual, it might not work for another. That’s where the science comes in, helping you tailor your specific medical history and body composition to decide what lifestyle habits you need to change to increase your health span.
Speak with your doctor about what you can do to improve your health and keep educating yourself on your body, such as by reading our blog!
We’re constantly learning about the human body and then once we learn something new, these findings need to be tested through multiple studies and situations to determine whether the results are effective on humans and whether the results are actually significant.
At this stage, in order to live a long and healthy life, the best thing you can do is fix your lifestyle habits: eat a balanced and nutritious diet, exercise regularly, get adequate sleep and manage your stress as best you can.