Let’s be honest — we all want to add more years to our lives.

But a longer life that takes a nosedive into disease and decrepitude is not what we’re after.

What is there to look forward to about a long lifespan if your healthspan — the amount of time a person spends in good health, free from chronic diseases and the disabilities common with aging — is cut short?

Unfortunately, that’s what plays out for many people. Those last ten or more years of life can be spent in declining health, followed by disease, frailty and loss of independence.

We know that inflammation is at the root of chronic illnesses including cancer, diabetes, and heart disease — but until now, a treatment hasn’t existed that can fight inflammation at the cellular level.

But a new study offers hope that a simple treatment could add as much as a decade of those healthy years to your lifespan…

Conquering inflammation = healthier aging

A group of mice was given monthly treatments to remove highly inflammatory cells from their tissues (cells expressing a specific gene called p21).

This treatment regimen allowed the mice to live about nine percent (79 days) longer than expected.

But not only did they live longer. They were also able to walk faster and grip objects with greater strength than untreated mice of the same age.

This is important because, in humans, slowed walking speed and weakened grip are tightly correlated with increased overall frailty.

“We are all very excited about this finding because it demonstrates that we not only extend the lifespan, but indeed extend the life with good health in mice, which is a key goal for the aging field,” says UConn School of Medicine gerontologist Dr. Ming Xu.

Human potential: 8 to 10 extra healthy years

The research team included researchers from UConn Health, The University of Texas, Cedars-Sinai, The Jackson Laboratory for Genomic Medicine and the University of Nebraska College of Dentistry

They found that even though the treated mice were older at the time of death, their physical function and overall frailty were better than those of untreated mice in the last stages of their life.

The oldest treated mice lived to be 43 months, equivalent to about 130 years old as a human.

As of now, the researchers are working on translating their results to humans. If the treatment works as well for humans, it would be equivalent to 8 to 10 additional years of healthy old age.

Start fighting inflammation now

Diet is one of the easiest ways to start fighting inflammation in your body right now. Here are three ways to start…

Not long ago, researchers at the Stanford School of Medicine discovered that a diet including fermented foods, like natto, yogurt, kefir, kimchi and kombucha tea, could have a powerful effect on tamping inflammation down.

In their study, they saw fermented foods:

• lower levels of 19 inflammatory proteins in the blood, including interleukin 6, which has been linked to conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis, Type 2 diabetes and chronic stress.
• reduce activation of four types of immune cells associated with inflammation.

In addition to adding fermented foods to your diet, it’s just as important to avoid or eat fewer inflammatory foods, like ultraprocessed foods, sweetened drinks and red meat.

The opposite of inflammatory foods are alkaline foods that promote a less acidic environment in the body. An alkaline diet includes eating inflammation-busting foods like:

• Olive oil
• Tomatoes
• Nuts (including walnuts and almonds)
• Green leafy vegetables (like kale, spinach and collard greens)
• Fatty fish (such as salmon, sardines, tuna and mackerel)
• Fruits (like blueberries, strawberries, oranges and cherries)

Last but not least, don’t skimp on your vitamin D. Researchers have found a direct connection between low levels of vitamin D and a key biomarker of chronic inflammation that signals a high probability of disease risk.

Sources:

Live longer, die healthier — Eureka Alert

Intermittent clearance of p21-highly-expressing cells extends lifespan and confers sustained benefits to health and physical function — Cell Metabolism

A fermented-food diet increases microbiome diversity and lowers inflammation, study finds — EurekAlert!