Physical Activity and Nutrition: Two Promising Strategies for Telomere Maintenance?

Abstract

As the world demographic structure is getting older, highlighting strategies to counteract age-related diseases is a major public health concern. Telomeres are nucleoprotein structures that serve as guardians of genome stability by ensuring protection against both cell death and senescence. A hallmark of biological aging, telomere health is determined throughout the lifespan by a combination of both genetic and non-genetic influences. This review summarizes data from recently published studies looking at the effect of lifestyle variables such as nutrition and physical activity on telomere dynamics.

Keywords

• aging
• exercise
• diet
• telomerase
• TERRA
• telomere length
• senescence