As the population ages, the prevalence of age-related diseases is expected to increase significantly, placing a massive burden on healthcare systems and society. To address this issue, it is crucial to promote healthy aging. Biological age, which considers physiological deterioration linked to morbidity and mortality risk, is a more accurate measure of aging than chronological age. This measure is influenced by various factors, including nutritional factors, which have the potential to mitigate the risk of age-related diseases.

The epigenetic clock, a promising biomarker of biological age, can investigate the direct relations between nutritional factors and aging, identifying potential intervention targets to improve healthy aging.

While people are living longer, morbidity rates are expected to rise further as aging is a primary risk factor for common diseases like cancer and cardiovascular disease. This will have major healthcare, economic, and social implications, emphasizing the importance of healthy aging. However, not everyone ages at the same rate in terms of their health status and susceptibility to disease and death. Biological age, which considers the degree of physiological deterioration over time, represents aging more accurately and is a better predictor of morbidity and mortality.

Research suggests that a complex interplay between lifestyle and genetics influences aging, with genetics accounting for a variable but significant percentage of lifespan variation in the population. Alongside genome-wide analyses that have identified measurable genetic effects on the aging rate, lifestyle factors have been proposed to play a more significant role in determining the pace of aging. In particular, nutritional factors like dietary fiber and omega-3 fatty acids, along with a physically active lifestyle, have been reported to mitigate age-related disease risk and may have the potential to improve healthy aging.

To determine factors associated with accelerated or decelerated aging rates, researchers have been studying clinical biomarkers that can accurately reflect biological age. The epigenetic clock, which estimates biological age based on the cumulative assessment of DNA methylation at age-related CpG-sites, stands out as the currently most accurate measure of biological age and a strong predictor of both mortality and morbidity. With epigenetic clocks, epigenetic age acceleration can be calculated, which is associated with multiple age-related conditions, whereas epigenetic age deceleration is associated with lifestyle factors like a healthy diet and physical activity.

This study aims to discover the interactive network between nutrients and epigenetic age acceleration by using Copula Graphical Models (CGM), a network analysis method that can cope with multiple types of data as well as complex inter-nutrient relationships without subjective selection of confounders.

The study used a data-driven approach to identify nutrients that relate to decelerated biological aging. Several direct relationships were revealed, including:

• Negative associations between PhenoAge acceleration and dietary intakes of coumestrol, beta-carotene, and arachidic acid.
• Positive associations between PhenoAge acceleration and dietary intakes of added sugar, gondoic acid, arachidonic acid, behenic acid, and vitamin A.
• Associations between PhenoAge acceleration and lifestyle factors, such as smoking, BMI, WHR, and blood pressure.

The study highlights the importance of considering individual nutrients and their sources, rather than broad categories when studying their effects on aging.