It's become common knowledge that performing exercises or eating well will make you more healthy and youthful looking. But as to whether which one is better, the answer is neither. The real answer depends on your genes. Of course, not everyone shares the same genes. This means that there are some people who will reap the benefits of exercise and a good diet more than others. You can understand your genes more to find the exercise or diet that will work for you, but that, of course, takes time and money.
Exercise or diet: Which works better? The answer depends on your genes
As we get older, the cognitive aging that lies in neural stem cells found in the brain also decrease over time. These cells play a major role in forming new memories in the brain. But as people start to age, their level neural stem cells decrease making it more and more difficult to become more youthful, active, and healthy. However, there could be a way for you to stay young longer than other people.
According to the recent research from King's College London, people who have a specific set of genes have higher chances of keeping those cells younger--making them more youthful. As studied by Sandrine Thuret, a neuroscientist at King's College London, there are two kinds of genes that people normally have: ABTB1 and GRB10.
These two genes modulate the outcome of lifestyle choices more than others, the study suggests. Their influence comes down to the neural stem cells concentrated in the brain's hippocampus.
"Lifestyle - exercise and diet - will affect people differently according to very tiny variations in their genes. Those genes are regulated when neural stem cells age, and the variation on those same genes are related to cognitive aging," Thuret explains. "This effect is mitigated when you add lifestyle like exercise and diet."
How did they discover it?
In order to know whether genes really affect the youth's mind of a person, the team of Thuret studied 16 genes that they think that affects aging. After listing all these down, they discovered that the two said genes had different reactions to exercising or eating healthier.
People who diet were discovered to be more effective in keeping themselves young if you have GRB10 variations of genes. Meanwhile, exercise may be most beneficial for people with specific SIRT1 genes.
"Identifying these genes as the missing links between these three important variables could inform new approaches to help improve the aging process through targeted changes in diet and exercise and ultimately in developing new drugs in the future," said Chiara de Lucia, lead author and a neuroscientist King's College London.
Although the genes are now identified, the researchers explained that people should still do both things--exercise and diet-- if they wanted to remain healthy and youthful. Genes will not be easily determined by each person, so doing both of these activities will make it more effective.
"Just to be safe, everyone should exercise and eat healthily," said Thuret.
