Toggle Main Menu Toggle Search

Open Access padlockePrints

Impact of nutrition on the ageing process

Lookup NU author(s): Professor John Mathers

Downloads

Full text for this publication is not currently held within this repository. Alternative links are provided below where available.


Abstract

Human life expectancy has been increasing steadily for almost two centuries and is now approximately double what it was at the beginning of the Victorian era. This remarkable demographic change has been accompanied by a shift in disease prevalence so that age is now the major determinant of most common diseases. The challenge is to enhance healthy ageing and to reduce the financial and social burdens associated with chronic ill health in later life. Studies in model organisms have demonstrated that the ageing phenotype arises because of the accumulation of macromolecular damage within the cell and that the ageing process is plastic. Nutritional interventions that reduce such damage, or which enhance the organism's capacity to repair damage, lead to greater longevity and to reduced risk of age-related diseases. Dietary (energy) restriction increases lifespan in several model organisms, but it is uncertain whether it is effective in primates, including humans. However, excess energy storage leading to increased adiposity is a risk factor for premature mortality and for age-related diseases so that obesity prevention is likely to be a major public health route to healthy ageing. In addition, adherence to healthy eating patterns, such as the Mediterranean dietary pattern, is associated with longevity and reduced risk of age-related diseases.


Publication metadata

Author(s): Mathers JC

Publication type: Article

Publication status: Published

Journal: British Journal of Nutrition

Year: 2015

Volume: 113

Issue: Suppl. 1

Pages: S18-S22

Print publication date: 01/01/2015

Online publication date: 21/11/2014

Acceptance date: 28/08/2014

ISSN (print): 0007-1145

ISSN (electronic): 1475-2662

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0007114514003237

DOI: 10.1017/S0007114514003237


Altmetrics

Altmetrics provided by Altmetric


Share