More specifically, the team is at a higher level. flavoneMetabolites found in high concentrations in parsley and celery, and salsolinol, a metabolite found in dark chocolate, are present at surprisingly youthful levels in centenarians, and these metabolites are associated with longevity. It was suggested that this may be the case.
“This is information people can use right now to think about their diet,” said the lead researcher. Paola Sebastiani Director of the Center for Quantitative Methods and Data Science at Tufts Medical Center.
The findings don’t mean people need to rush to consume large amounts of these foods, Sebastiani said. On the contrary, ongoing research points to a moderate amount of food variety that may support healthy aging.
The study comes as life expectancy in the United States and many other Western countries has increased significantly over the past 20 years, but at the same time, the number of chronic diseases such as heart and lung disease, obesity, and obesity has increased significantly. The number of years people live is also increasing. Diabetes. between 183 countries surveyed Researchers at the Mayo Clinic recently found that people in the United States live the longest period of time hampered by these conditions, at about 12.4 years.
It is this troubling gap that is currently driving many scientists to study metabolites and the link between these busy molecules, which help produce energy in our bodies, and their health effects. I would like to elucidate this. By understanding these connections, researchers can identify metabolites that can be manipulated by chemicals or lifestyle changes to improve health or reduce disease, potentially reducing a variety of chronic diseases. It is said that it is useful for the treatment of
Tufts and his team analyzed blood samples and other health-related data collected over eight years. study Approximately 2,700 participants range in age from their mid-20s to 110 years old, all from families with a history of exceptional longevity. Scientists analyzed hundreds of metabolites from blood samples and identified 19 different groups of these molecules. Some of these change with age, some are associated with a particularly high risk of death, and some are more common in centenarians.
But scientists lacked information about the participants’ diets to more closely link their metabolites to health outcomes. The researchers are now expanding their study with more detailed information from another larger study, including participants’ food diaries and stool samples.
Researchers imagine that in the not-too-distant future, annual physical exams will replace blood tests that only measure a few metabolites, such as the amount of glucose, cholesterol, and triglycerides in the body, with screening tests. He says it’s not a far-fetched story. This allows hundreds of metabolites to be identified on a regular basis, giving a more complete picture.
“Measuring your cholesterol below 200 is not enough to determine how healthy you are.” Sebastiani, Tufts Scholar.
susan sumnerA professor of nutrition at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Nutrition Institute is looking for “signs of health.” [with metabolites] This can be used to tell early if an individual is deviating from health and starting to move toward a state of disease. ”
Sumner et al. recently studied more than 400 metabolites in about 100 adults. Half of the participants were physically active, not overweight, ate five or more servings of fruits and vegetables each day, and ate little red meat. The remaining 50 were sedentary, overweight, and poorly fed.
Scientists found that healthy groups had distinct patterns of metabolites that were a sign of health that were different from other groups. Healthy characteristics include increased levels of vitamin D, increased levels of certain beneficial fatty acids, and decreased levels of many bile acids produced from foods high in saturated fats, such as meat and certain dairy products. and so on.
Professor Sumner also said: Nutrition for precision health researchstudying thousands of participants with the goal of pinpointing the best diet for everyone. Tufts Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital are among the research facilities.
Current research on metabolites presents both challenges and promising findings. First of all, scientists Over 150,000 metabolites Only a small portion of this exists in the human body and has been analyzed. Unlike genes, which are relatively static, the metabolites in your body constantly change depending on what and when you eat, as well as many other daily activities. That’s why researchers say they need to study large numbers of people over time. You can better distinguish between the characteristics of healthy and unhealthy metabolites.
“Imagine that when someone has an infection, their metabolism changes. If someone has a chronic disease, such as diabetes, their metabolism changes. For example, if they have other illnesses or a fever, their metabolism changes. “Or when you exercise, your metabolism changes.” Shankar Subramaniamprofessor of bioengineering and cellular and molecular medicine at the University of California, San Diego.
Subramaniam said metabolites are powerful markers that can help researchers better understand how the human body works in both health and disease because they are easily obtained not only from blood but also from saliva and urine.
“We believe this is where the future is going.” Mr. Subramaniam said, National Metabolomics Data Repository, It houses thousands of studies and samples from dozens of countries.
Using increasingly sophisticated tools, researchers are identifying and understanding more metabolites. But they say more research is needed to understand how specific foods and diets affect different individuals based on their genes and environment.
Still, based on scientists’ growing understanding of these molecules, the idea of using metabolites as drugs to target specific nutrients is gaining traction. Sebastiani, a researcher at Tufts University, said: [metabolites] If we can do that to help people age healthily, that’s really exciting. ”
Kay Lazar can be reached at [email protected]. @GrobeKayLazar.
