Zurich study finds fibre keeps blood vessels young

Certain gut bacteria cause blood vessels to age more quickly according to a study by the University of Zurich. What you eat therefore has an influence on how quickly the cardiovascular system ages. +Get the most important news from Switzerland in your inbox Fibre and foods with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties boost the body’s own fountain of youth, as the University of Zurich (UZH) explained in a press release on Wednesday. These include wholegrain products, for example. However, the consumption of phenylalanine-rich foods and beverages such as red meat, dairy products and some artificial sweeteners should be limited. Researchers at UZH came to this conclusion after investigating how the composition of the microbiome changes with age and whether this affects the cardiovascular system. In a study published in the journal Nature Aging, they showed that the degradation product of the amino acid phenylalanine – phenylacetic acid – accumulates with age. This leads to the ...