Evidence keeps building that exercise can preserve telomere length, thus keeping cells young, and in theory, slowing aging. A German study looked at several groups, both young and old – some didn’t get much exercise, and some got crazy amounts of exercise, running upwards of 45 – 50 miles a week. They found that among the young groups, telomere lengths were about the same, regardless of the amount of physical activity. It was a different story, however, among the older groups:
When the researchers measured telomeres in the middle-aged subjects, however, the situation was quite different. The sedentary older subjects had telomeres that were on average 40 percent shorter than in the sedentary young subjects, suggesting that the older subjects’ cells were, like them, aging. The runners, on the other hand, had remarkably youthful telomeres, a bit shorter than those in the young runners, but only by about 10 percent. In general, telomere loss was reduced by approximately 75 percent in the aging runners. Or, to put it more succinctly, exercise, Dr. Werner says, ‘‘at the molecular level has an anti-aging effect.’’
The question becomes, then, how much exercise do we need to gain these benefits? If it’s 30 minutes a day, we’re talking. If it requires running 45 miles a week, though, then… How much longer before I can sign up for molecular regenerative medicine?