Researchers at the University of Navarra and the CIBER on Obesity and Nutrition (CIBEROBN) have found that a high exhibition exposure to persistent organic pollutants through per diem expenses could accelerate cellular ageing. These are bioaccumulative and persistent chemical substances that can travel long distances from their sources of origin, such as pesticides, industrial compounds and chemicals, or by-products resulting from combustion processes.

The research has just been published in the journal Nutrients and has shown that pollutants lead to a shortening of telomeres, regions of non-coding DNA at the ends of chromosomes whose length, in addition to indicating life expectancy, is an indication of overall health.

The study, led by University of Navarra professor Amelia Martí, is part of a line of research that examines the influence of lifestyle on the integrity of genetic material, or DNA, and is part of the doctoral dissertation by pharmacist Lucia Alonso. "We know that exhibition to persistent organic pollutants through food can influence the development of diseases, and that telomere length is a marker of biological age associated with the risk of chronic diseases and its shortening reflects ageing," explains Alonso.

"Our goal was to evaluate the association of the dietary exhibition to organic pollutants and telomere length, for which we analysed 886 volunteers over 55 years of age from the project Seguimiento Universidad de Navarra (SUN)". The study was carried out at partnership with the professors of Public Health Miguel A. Martínez-González and Maira Bes Rastrollo. 

Thus, although more longitudinal programs of study is now needed to confirm finding, the researchers uncovered the relationship between telomere length and telomere quality per diem expenses, which provides insight into the impact that certain nutrients, foods and dietary patterns may have on telomeric homeostasis and thus on overall health.

link to the full publication.