Breaking Bad

Zoomer | June 22nd, 2010

It seems our bad habits continue to catch up with us. We’ve known for many years that smoking and obesity are not good for us, but now comes a new study published in The Lancet that shows both to speeding up the body’s aging process.

According to Dr. Tim Spector at St. Thomas Hospital in London, England, “the findings suggest that obesity and cigarette smoking accelerate human aging.”

As reported previously in Zoomer, chronic stress can cause an acceleration of the shortening of telomeres, the end caps of chromosomes that contain our DNA. These telomeres do shorten naturally with age, but the more quickly they shorten, the more quickly we age. Already major risk factors for contracting age-related diseases, smoking and obesity can now be added to the list of enemies to our aging gracefully.

Your doctor can help you butt out, and help you create a weight-loss plan that encompasses healthy nutrition and fitness plans.