A small study in the Lancet published this past September has shown for the first time that changes in diet, exercise, stress management and especially social support seem to result in longer telomeres – the parts of our chromosomes that affect aging.
Telemores are the bits at the ends of chromosomes that affect how quickly a cell ages. You may have seen recent news reports that have said shorter telomeres, higher and faster incidence of age-related diseases, from cancers to diabetes to obesity.
In the study, participants who upped the color on their plate (more veg, fruits, and less of the white/yellow refined stuff), walked more, practiced stress reduction techniques and especially connected with at least weekly group support improved telomere length by 10 per cent.
Other studies around weight loss – and keeping it off – have consistently shown that a big factor of success is social support – with real people, not just online.
The 12 week goFIT challenge (http://gofit.soton.ac.uk) offers all these key ingredients both to stay younger, and to succeed.
Over 12 weeks, we help you move more, with “movement minutes”; our how to tips for getting color on your plate will help you eat better and lose weight in ways that defeat “no time; too busy” challenges – and especially, goFIT has this key ingredient, social support, built in. Here’s how:
Join or put together a team of five- eight others at the University. The goFIT site makes it easy to connect with each other, see how each other is doing on weekly movement minute goals, offer support and plan meet ups, like going for walks together.
Team sign up for goFIT is open now. The challenge begins on 7 February.
Why not use the goFIT challenge as a fun, easy way to help you reach your wellbeing goals? What have you got to lose?