Published on: Oct 01, 2025
While people are living longer than ever, a long life doesn’t always mean a healthy one. Increasingly, the focus is on healthspan—the years we live in good health—rather than just lifespan. New research suggests that diet plays a key role in this process.
Using the tiny worm Caenorhabditis elegans, researchers led by Spang have shown that certain RNA molecules in food can improve fitness in old age. These dietary RNAs help prevent the formation of harmful protein aggregates, which are linked to aging and age-related diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. Their findings are published in Nature Communications.
As organisms age, damaged proteins accumulate, forming aggregates that drive cellular aging. The study found that a balanced diet activates autophagy, a cellular clean-up process that removes these proteins. Remarkably, the protective effects of dietary RNAs were observed not only in the gut but also in muscles and throughout the organism.
The dietary RNAs trigger a mild stress response that trains the body to cope with protein damage more effectively, explains Emmanouil Kyriakakis, first author of the study. Worms on a balanced diet were more active and healthier in old age, demonstrating how specific food components can stimulate the body’s natural protective mechanisms.
While it remains to be seen whether these effects translate to humans, the study reinforces the idea that what we eat can directly influence how we age.
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