Researchers have long stressed the importance of living a healthy life based on daily exercise and a balanced diet. Now the issue is again in the spotlight, this time in a study led by Dr. Elizabeth Blackburn , a UCSF biochemist, which concluded that lifestyle changes can improve levels of an enzyme called telomerase that controls cell aging.

For the study, Dr. Blackburn, Dr. Dean Ornish, a professor of medicine at the Preventive Medicine Research Institute in Sausalito, Calif., and his colleagues at the University of California, San Francisco, analyzed the levels of telomerase in the prostate tissue of 30 cancer patients. The patients were asked to follow a low-fat diet, exercise moderately and reduce their stress factors.

After only three months, 24 patients showed a highly significant increase in the level of telomerase, which is known to protect telomeres. Longer telomeres mean longer lifespan and few diseases like cancer. It is already known that smoking, obesity and sedentary lifestyle are linked with shorter than average telomeres, thus with a shortening of life.

Overall, the study found that blood levels of telomerase increased by 29 percent on average on people following the researchers’ instructions.

“The implications of this study are not limited to men with prostate cancer. Comprehensive lifestyle changes may cause improvements in telomerase and telomeres that may be beneficial to the general population as well. This might be a powerful motivator for many people to beneficially change their diet and lifestyle,” Dr. Ornish said.