New research led by members of the McMaster Institute for Research on Aging using data from the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA), shows inflammation is a critical link between what a person eats and their risk of frailty as they age.
These findings mark an important step in work to promote healthy aging through nutrition and personalized health plans.
For the study, published in npj Aging, the research team looked at metabolites found in blood samples from nearly 10,000 CLSA participants between the ages of 45 and 85.
Metabolites are molecules, such as vitamins and amino acids, involved in the reactions inside cells that generate energy, signal changes or create body tissue. Because different foods provide different sets of metabolites to our bodies — for instance, fruits and vegetables have a different metabolomic signature than processed meat — researchers are able to learn more about a person’s overall diet by looking at the unique clusters of metabolites found in their blood.
“Understanding the roots of frailty is important in aging,” says Parminder Raina, principal investigator of the study and the CLSA. “When people struggle to recover from stressors like a fall or surgery because of frailty, their lives may change significantly.”
The study is the first to look at the connections between diet, inflammation and frailty at this scale, using metabolomic data from a large, nationally generalizable cohort. By connecting data about metabolites with measurements of the participants’ frailty and inflammation from the CLSA, researchers can identify links between these factors, including metabolites known to increase or reduce inflammation.
The study shows that people with higher levels of plasmalogens and furan fatty acids from protein-based foods and those with anti-inflammatory metabolites from fruits, vegetables, nuts and legumes, had reduced frailty risk both directly and because they also had lower inflammation.
Conversely, a higher ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids — indicating a diet high in fish and eggs — and higher levels of trans-4-hydroxyproline from processed meat increased frailty risk through pro-inflammatory mechanisms.
“Our findings suggest that the foods we eat affect frailty not just through individual nutrients, but through connected metabolic processes that influence inflammation and aging,” says Talha Rafiq, the study’s lead author and a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence and Impact at McMaster.
“Healthy eating should focus on balancing nutrients and how they work together, rather than just individual nutrients alone.”
This research is an important step in advancing aging nutrition towards more precision and personalization, notes Raina.
“We may in time be able to help reduce or delay frailty through personalized nutrition plans that address sources of inflammation while also encouraging people to add more anti-inflammatory nutrients to their diet,” he says.
Funding for the CLSA is provided by the Government of Canada through the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR).