Simplest secret to healthier aging starts in your gut

Far too many of us think that aging means getting weaker and sicker and goes hand-in-hand with poor brain function.

After all, how many times have you heard someone mention a senior moment or even had your doctor explain your latest issue just by shrugging and saying, “Well, you’re getting older.”

But the truth is that aging doesn’t have to mean declining health and declining memory. Those are just symptoms of unhealthy aging.

And, if you think that’s good news, I’ve got more…

New research by immunologists at the Babraham Institute, Cambridge has just laid the secret to healthier aging at your feet.

Fecal transplants, anyone?

Those Cambridge researchers knew two important facts…

The first was that the gut is one of the organs most severely affected by aging. Age-dependent changes to the gut microbiome have been linked to increased frailty, inflammation and increased susceptibility to intestinal disorders.

The second was the fact that all of these age-dependent changes to the gut microbiome happen in parallel with a decrease in function of the gut immune system.

“Our gut microbiomes are made up of hundreds of different types of bacteria and these are essential to our health, playing a role in our metabolism, brain function, and immune response,” explains lead researcher Dr. Marisa Stebegg. “Our immune system is constantly interacting with the bacteria in the gastrointestinal tract. As immunologists who study why our immune system doesn’t work as well as we age, we were interested to explore whether the make-up of the gut microbiome might influence the strength of the gut immune response.”

Related: Superpowered gut flora can fight cancer for you

So, they decided to study the phenomenon in mice and here’s where it gets pretty gross but also amazing.

They found that when they transplanted the fecal material of young mice with healthy microbiomes to aged mice with poor immune systems, their gut immune response became more youthful again.

In fact, according to Dr. Michelle Linterman, group leader in the Immunology program at the Babraham Institute, “Looking at the numbers of the immune cells involved, the aged mice possessed gut immune responses that were almost indistinguishable from those of the younger mice.”

Basically, the good bacteria in the fecal matter were able to stimulate their gut microbiome and revive their gut immune system.

Probiotic power to the rescue

And, while most of us will never have a fecal transplant (yuck!), there are other options…

What’s important is the study showed that the changes in the gut immune response that lead to unhealthy aging, frailty, and disease-causing inflammation are reversible when you add in healthy bacteria.

Related: 7 probiotic life hacks

An easy way to do that — no fecal transplant needed — is to get more probiotics in your daily diet.

You can do it through the food and drinks you consume, like:

• Yogurt
• Kombucha
• Sauerkraut
• Kefir
• Tempeh

Or, you can take a daily probiotic supplement.

It might be the easiest way ever to healthy aging and avoiding the decline we all dread. For more healthy aging tips, check out six more secrets to exceptional aging from my colleague, Jenny Smiechowski.

Editor’s notes: Are you feeling unusually tired? You may think this is normal aging, but the problem could be your master hormone. When it’s not working, your risk of age-related diseases skyrockets. To reset what many call “the trigger for all disease,” and live better longer, click here!

Sources:

1. Could boosting the gut microbiome be the secret to healthier older age? — Babraham Institute