To Lower Your Biological Age, You Should Stop Eating These Things!

We all know too much sugar is bad for us, but did you know it can actually age your cells? Researchers from the University of California, San Francisco, have found that even when we eat healthfully, each gram of added sugar ages our cells.

The US Food and Drug Administration recommends limiting added sugar to 50 grams a day. But sugar is sneaky; it comes in many forms. For example, a bar of milk chocolate has about 25 grams, while a 12-ounce soda packs a whopping 39 grams.

What is Biological Age?

Biological age refers to the age of our cells and tissues. It's influenced by genetics and lifestyle habits such as diet and exercise, and it may be higher or lower than our chronological age—the number of years we’ve been alive. The study from UCSF reveals that added sugar accelerates biological aging, even if the sugar is part of an otherwise healthy diet.

The good news? Eliminating just 10 grams of added sugar from your daily diet may reduce your biological age by 2.4 months over time, according to the researchers. High levels of sugar in the blood can damage cells, leading to chronic inflammation, which is associated with heart disease, diabetes, liver disease, and cancer.

Want to dive deeper? Some of this research is featured in the Netflix docuseries “You Are What You Eat,” which premiered in January.

So, if you're looking to keep your cells young and vibrant, cutting down on added sugar is a sweet place to start.