Newswise — A groundbreaking research project to understand how diet and eating patterns can affect the body’s internal clock and influence aging is underway at UTHealth Houston, thanks to a $3.3 million grant from the National Institute on Aging. The study is led by Faraz Bishehsari, MD, PhD, professor and vice chair of Clinical and Translational Research in the Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition with McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston, and Mahboobeh Mahdavinia, MD, PhD, professor of allergy and immunology , and the John P.
and Kathrine G. McGovern Distinguished Chair in Internal Medicine at McGovern Medical School. The research holds the promise of uncovering new strategies for disease prevention and healthy aging.
By revealing how eating habits and circadian rhythms influence gut and pancreatic health as people age, the research could significantly enhance the quality of life as we age, according to the study team. Many age-related diseases are linked to low-grade systemic inflammation, sometimes known as “inflammaging,” a term used by some researchers to describe the chronic, low-level inflammation that occurs with aging and affects multiple organs. One of the main causes of this inflammation is the breakdown of the intestinal barrier, which is regulated by the interaction between the gut surface and its microbiome, a collection of bacteria, fungi, viruses, and their genes that naturally live on and inside the human body.
“As we age,.