A new study out of Japan, published in the journal Aging, found that biological aging slowed by 2.2% among a small group of older men who ate plain yogurt every day, in addition to adhering to standard recommendations for a healthier diet and moderate exercise.
The 12-week clinical trial followed 48 overweight Japanese men ages 50 to 74. Half of the participants consumed 100 grams of plain yogurt containing the probiotic strain Bifidobacterium longum BB536 on a daily basis. They also received dietary counseling to reduce overeating, snacking, and sugary drinks, and were told to take a brisk walk or use a stair climber for 30 minutes a day at least three times a week.
The other men, serving as a control group, were instructed to maintain their usual habits.
Using a measurement tool called DunedinPACE, which calculates the rate at which a body is aging, the researchers found that the yogurt eaters achieved “a statistically significant reduction in the pace of aging” compared with the control group.
That decrease, averaging 2.2%, occurred independently of weight loss, the study said. “It did not directly correlate with changes in the participants’ body mass index (BMI) or the exact number of exercise sessions they logged,” the researchers wrote.
They also observed “a noticeable improvement” in a specific DNA marker linked to kidney function.
The researchers pointed out that because the study monitored three distinct components—probiotics, diet, and exercise—they cannot attribute the anti-aging benefit to a single component. Instead, the slowdown may reflect the combined effect of all three factors.
“Taken together,” the study says, “these observations suggest that modest adjustments in diet and physical activity, combined with a realistic and easily adoptable habit of daily BB536-containing yogurt consumption may constitute a feasible lifestyle strategy for inducing short-term changes in biomarkers related to the pace of biological aging.”
That hypothesis, they added, “warrants confirmation in larger, long-term trials.”
The findings add to a growing body of research examining whether fermented dairy products and probiotics play a beneficial role in healthy aging. Previous Japanese research highlighted by The Jerusalem Post found that a bacterial strain derived from kefir, another fermented dairy product, reduced age-related changes and inflammation in older mice. Lead researcher Hiroka Sasahara said those “preliminary but unique” findings may lead to new strategies for supporting immune function in older adults.
One potential caveat: The Japanese research was funded by Morinaga Milk Industry, the Tokyo-based dairy company that developed the BB536 probiotic strain used in the study.
—Kevin Haynes
This article originally appeared on Fast Company’s sister website, Inc.com.
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