Does High Intensity Exercise Slow Aging
There is a very high interest in how exercise or high intensity cardio is able to maintain our wellness and also how we are able maintain a healthy lifespan or slow the aging process. This is especially the case in modern societies. Many lifestyles have become very sedentary and many people are heavily reliant on technology for their occupations. On the whole people are thought to not be as active as our ancestors were.
Inflammation and aging are thought to be linked through build ups in oxidative stress within the body. Chronic low grade systemic inflammation is one reason for accelerations in aging or reductions in possible lifespan. This process is sometimes called inflammaging and is a growing wellness topic.
Our bodies possess antioxidants which are able to subdue oxidative stress and reduce inflammation. We also regularly consume antioxidants in our diets to replenish levels of antioxidants. An imbalance in antioxidant levels though may result in systemic inflammation and inflammaging.
The possible health benefits of regular exercise through taking part in sports are really well established. Very regular exercise may increase inflammation at a local and systemic level within the body. Because of this there is some justification to concerns that highly inflammatory exercise on a regular basis could actually accelerate the aging process.
Heightened oxidative stress levels from this sort of exercise could initiate inflammaging. This was one of the main topics of investigation in a recent study looking into how high intensity sport or exercise could affect aging via reductions in telomere lengths.
Here the effects of intense exercise against less intensive exercise will be considered in relation to how they affect aging or telomere length.
Telomere Length And Aging
If you are familiar with our previous articles here you will know that telomere length is one of the main markers of aging currently accepted. Essentially our telomeres are looped structures on the ends of our DNA strands which protect essential genetic information of our cells from severe damage. This includes parts of our DNA needed for cells to self maintain and to make core proteins.
Disruptive compounds such as hydrogen peroxide are produced by the body in certain conditions. These compounds increase the risks that our DNA strands will be subject to complete or partial genetic loss. Oxidative stress damage to DNA from these compounds is able to cause cell death. If our telomeres are shorter than usual then we are at a higher risk of this happening to our cells.
When large amounts of cells die off we have to replenish them. This uses resources and our telomeres are also preventative of this process. Cell die off could be catastrophic for organ systems like the heart and may lead to heart failures. For this reason length of telomeres is an accepted marker of aging within the body and telomere conservation is a hot topic in aging research.
Inflammaging is a concept which may be linked to telomere shortening through chronic build ups in oxidative stress levels and inflammation. High levels of oxidative stress are a leading cause of telomere shortening as well. The body has natural antioxidant systems in place to reduce oxidative stress. This includes systems such as the glutathione complex. Some individuals are deficient in certain nutrients or antioxidants though. With chronic inflammation or oxidative stress antioxidant depletion may also occur.
How High Intensity Exercise May Slow Aging
One recent study looked into how intensity of exercise could influence aging through observing the lengths of telomeres in athletes. 80 elite athletes took part in the study. and they were grouped accordingly.
The athletes were grouped in terms of the intensity of their cardio level during training with some sports considered as being more intense than others. Various biological components of these athletes were assessed such as telomere length and inflammatory cytokine levels.
The high intensity athletes showed an increase in telomere length against athletes doing less intense sports. This would suggest that regular high intensity exercise has more of an anti aging effect than regular low intensity exercise. The younger group of athletes responded really well to the high intensity exercise in terms of telomere length.
The study associated this telomere length conservation with higher levels of inflammation suppressing cytokines. For example an anti inflammatory cytokine inhibitor known as IL 10 was found to be at higher levels in the group doing intensive sport.
The study also found higher levels of IL 10 in older athletes which corresponded with levels of a specific inflammatory cytokine. Higher levels of inflammation reducing cytokines are associated with a healthier aging profile in older individuals. High levels of IL 10 are linked to a lowered risk of cardiovascular mortality.
Telomere length is also positively linked to heart functioning through reduced heart cell death and less risk of heart failure. Levels of IL 10 could be an important factor in supporting heart health especially during very strenuous exercise which stresses the heart muscle.
Natural Telomere Conservation During Intense Exercise
High intensity athletes had higher levels of both pro and anti inflammatory cytokines produced by the body. This suggests there may be an increase in systemic inflammation reducing responses as a result of very high intensity exercise.
That could include improvements in the production of proteins for natural antioxidant systems such as the glutathione complex or thioredoxin. Thioredoxin protein expression is increased during intensive exercise.
Oxidative stress is a leading cause of telomere shortening. Body produced antioxidant proteins could be very important in preventing DNA damaging build ups in superoxide or hydrogen peroxide levels. They could reduce systemic or localised oxidative stress and inflammation which may prevent telomere shortening.
The same could also apply to the inflammation reducing cytokine IL 10 which is naturally produced by our bodies. Some studies have shown that IL 10 supports more healthy levels of oxidative stress under some inflammatory conditions. IL 10 may reduce oxidative stress as an anti inflammatory cytokine through restoring antioxidant enzyme or complex activities.
Telomere length is a measure of aging so high intensity exercise could therefore be preventative of accelerated aging and DNA loss through all of these natural responses.
Other studies have also shown similar results to this recent study. They also found that increases in telomere lengths are linked with exercise intensity. High intensity sport does increase the total stresses to our bodies. However supplying the body with proper nutrients could support the natural antioxidant processes or genetic responses within the body.
Other research also supports this and suggests that nutrients have an important role in supporting telomeric changes during exercise.
Overall the research so far therefore shows that intense exercise could be of benefit for telomere length preservation and reduced aging.
Summary
Currently there is a very high interest in how exercise may support our wellbeing and also how certain lifestyle factors affect the aging process. Modern society has become very sedentary for many people in comparison to the lives of our ancestors.
While exercise has been shown to have possible health benefits for our wellbeing there are concerns that heavy exercise in sport could influence inflammation and accelerate aging. Inflammation and aging have been shown to have possible links though oxidative stress.
Chronic oxidative stress and inflammation may result in reduced possible lifespan in a process called inflammaging. Natural levels of antioxidants could become depleted in some circumstances such as intensive sport which may influence this. High levels of oxidative stress cause telomeres to shorten and this may cause loss of genetic material. Telomere length at the ends of our DNA is associated with accelerated aging.
One recent study found that telomere length actually improved in elite athletes who did intensive exercise in comparison to those who were on less intense schedules. This may be due to the activation of genetic responses which lead to telomere length conservation.
One example of this is IL 10 anti inflammatory cytokine levels or levels of naturally produced antioxidant proteins which are shown to increase during exercise. The levels of both pro and anti inflammatory cytokines were increased in the high intensity group which supports this suggestion. Intensive exercise requires resources but if properly supported with nutrition and rest this could reduce risks of telomere shortening.
Overall the research so far indicates that high intensity exercise could reduce the risks of aging because of links between telomere shortening and aging when supported with essential nutrients.
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