Can meditation do anything about ageing at the cellular level?
Meditation appears to activate an enzyme that protects chromosome caps from ageing, although the studies are still too small to draw firm conclusions. Meditation is in any case safe and has positive effects beyond cell biology, so the barrier to trying it is low.
Telomeres are the protective caps on your chromosomes; the shorter they become, the faster cells age. An enzyme called telomerase can slow that wear by repairing the telomeres. Meditation appears to activate that enzyme. Four randomised studies combined show a moderately positive effect on telomerase activity (effect size d=0.46). One study with participants in a 3-month meditation retreat found statistically significantly higher telomerase activity compared with a control group that was still waiting for the training.
The mechanism probably works through stress reduction. Chronic psychological stress is associated with lower telomerase activity, and lifestyle interventions such as meditation, yoga and exercise increased that enzyme in 13 out of 14 studies that examined this. Meditation is thought to reduce stress, increase the sense of control and lower neuroticism. These psychological changes appear to be the connecting link.
Telomere length itself is less clear. A 12-week yoga and meditation intervention in 96 participants did show improvements in telomerase activity, antioxidant capacity and DNA damage, but the increase in telomere length was not statistically significant (p=0.069). Telomerase therefore rises earlier and more clearly than telomere length itself changes.
One interesting finding: simply going on holiday already produced large changes in how certain genes are active, across all groups in a residential study. Regular meditators showed, on top of that rest effect, a trend toward higher telomerase activity. Novice meditators maintained their improved psychological wellbeing for longer afterwards. This suggests that meditation adds something extra beyond pure relaxation, but for now it remains an indication, not a proven fact.
The studies to date are small and the effects on telomere length have not yet been convincingly demonstrated. Meditation also likely improves sleep, and poor sleep independently contributes to accelerated cellular ageing and inflammatory processes. This may give meditation an additional indirect route to cellular health, although that connection too has not yet been demonstrated in a direct study.
The evidence rests on four randomised studies with a combined 190 participants, supplemented by a larger prospective study without a control group (96 participants), a controlled residential study and a review of 26 studies on stress and telomerase. The researchers themselves state that the underlying studies are small and that the mechanism is theoretically supported but has not yet been conclusively proven in clinical trials. The effect on telomerase has been demonstrated more consistently than the effect on telomere length itself.
Does caloric restriction actually make your cells younger?
Caloric restriction slows ageing processes in cells, but whether your cells actually become younger as a result has not yet been proven in humans. The metabolic benefits, such as improved insulin sensitivity, have been demonstrated in human studies.
What do zombie cells do to your ageing?
Zombie cells accumulate as you age and accelerate ageing through inflammatory signals; how to tackle them is promising but still very much under investigation.
Does clearing senescent cells with senolytics help against ageing?
Senolytics show impressive results in mouse studies, but in humans the evidence is too thin for use outside clinical trials. Self-medication with Dasatinib is inadvisable due to its side effects and cancer-biology risks.
Why do some cells stop dividing as you age?
Cells stop dividing as a protection against damage and cancer, but the accumulation of such stopped cells contributes over the years to inflammation and age-related diseases. Drugs that target this are promising in animal research, but are not yet ready for use outside clinical studies.
What exactly does senescence do to your cells as you age?
Senescent cells stop dividing, accumulate with age and cause damage throughout the body through a constant stream of inflammatory substances. They are both a protector (a brake on cancer) and a cause of damage, and that makes targeted intervention more complex than it appears.
Does chronic inflammation accelerate the ageing of your cells?
Chronic inflammation demonstrably accelerates cellular ageing through a negative spiral that is difficult to break. The best evidence-based approach to tackling that spiral is through lifestyle factors that dampen low-grade inflammation, such as sufficient exercise and a diet low in ultra-processed products.