Scientists Won a Nobel Prize for This — 12 Anti Aging Foods That Help Your Cells Protect Their DNA

In 2015, three scientists won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for showing how your cells repair their DNA. Tomas Lindahl, Paul Modrich and Aziz Sancar mapped three repair kits: one for everyday wear, one for sun damage, and one for copying mistakes. In a study of 135 healthy people, the sun-damage kit in blood cells worked about 0.6% less well each year from age 20 to 60. Here are 12 everyday anti aging foods that help your cells protect their DNA, from red bell pepper to green tea, with what the human studies found and how strong the evidence is. In this video: • The three DNA repair kits behind the 2015 Nobel Prize • Why folate matters: it's how your cells make the DNA letter T • Four foods tested in human trials that measured DNA damage • The only food where scientists saw a repair enzyme become more active • A simple day with these foods THE 12 FOODS 1. Red bell pepper (152 mg vitamin C in one medium pepper) 2. Butternut squash (about 9 mg beta-carotene per cup, baked) 3. Sweet potato (about 13 mg beta-carotene: the most on the list) 4. Beets (136 µg folate per cup) 5. Chickpeas (282 µg folate per cup) 6. Black-eyed peas (356 µg folate per cup) 7. Beef liver: a small portion, about 2 oz, once a week (40 µg vitamin B12) 8. Lentils (358 µg folate per cup: the most on the list) 9. Purple grape juice, 100% juice (small 8-week trial: 26% less DNA damage) 10. Carrots (small 2-week carrot juice study, no comparison group) 11. Watercress (8-week trial, 85 g a day: 17% less DNA damage) 12. Green tea, 2 cups a day (three small trials from one lab; a repair enzyme was more active) The daily folate amount for adults is 400 µg. CHAPTERS 0:00 The Nobel Prize for DNA repair 0:57 #12 Red bell pepper 2:30 #11 Butternut squash 3:34 #10 Sweet potato 4:39 #9 Beets 5:48 #8 Chickpeas 6:45 #7 Black-eyed peas 7:50 Inside the three repair kits 10:06 #6 Beef liver (a small portion) 11:31 #5 Lentils 12:52 #4 Purple grape juice 13:55 #3 Carrots 15:10 #2 Watercress 16:28 #1 Green tea 18:31 A simple day with these foods 19:28 The full list 20:12 Final thoughts KEY STUDIES 1. Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2015: DNA repair. https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/chemistry/2015/press-release/ 2. López-Otín C, et al. Hallmarks of aging. Cell, 2023. PMID 36599349 3. Wei Q, et al. DNA repair and aging. PNAS, 1993. (135 people, ages 20–60.) PMID 8434025 4. Blount BC, et al. Folate and DNA. PNAS, 1997. (UC Berkeley.) PMID 9096386 5. Fenech M, et al. Folate, B12, young adults. Carcinogenesis, 1998. PMID 9683174 6. Fenech MF, et al. Folate, B12, older men. Carcinogenesis, 1997. PMID 9230275 7. Slyskova J, et al. DNA Repair, 2014. (340 adults, observational.) PMID 24674629 8. Wei Q, et al. Folate and repair capacity. CEBP, 2003. (559 adults, observational.) PMID 14578130 9. Basten GP, et al. Folic acid and DNA repair. Br J Cancer, 2006. PMID 16736000 10. Park YK, et al. Grape juice. Ann N Y Acad Sci, 2009. (40 adults, 8 weeks, double-blind.) PMID 19723080 11. Pool-Zobel BL, et al. Carrot juice. Carcinogenesis, 1997. (23 men, no control group.) PMID 9328185 12. Astley SB, et al. Carotenoid foods and repair. Br J Nutr, 2004. PMID 14748939 13. Gill CI, et al. Watercress. Am J Clin Nutr, 2007. (60 adults, 8 weeks; funded by UK watercress growers.) PMID 17284750 14. Han KC, et al. Green tea. Br J Nutr, 2011. PMID 20807462 15. Ho CK, et al. Green tea and DNA repair. Mol Nutr Food Res, 2014. PMID 24585444 16. Choi SW, et al. Green tea and DNA repair. Mutagenesis, 2015. PMID 25527735 17. Mišík M, et al. Review of human trials. Mutat Res Rev, 2023. PMID 37031732 18. Fruit and vegetable trials with no change in repair: PMIDs 14578137, 20358470, 17925050. 19. MedlinePlus: Folic acid, Vitamins B12, A and C. https://medlineplus.gov/ Find any PMID at https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/ Food amounts: USDA FoodData Central. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/ Good to know: the food trials were small and short, and they measured DNA damage in blood cells, not disease. The links between vitamin C, alpha-carotene or folate and repair ability come from observational studies, which show links, not proof. The folate and B12 trials used cereal and tablets. Eight of the 12 foods are listed for their nutrients in USDA data and haven't been tested on their own. DISCLAIMER This video is for general education only. It is not medical advice and does not replace advice from your doctor. Beef liver is very high in vitamin A: keep it to a small portion and skip it if you take vitamin A supplements. Watercress is high in vitamin K: if you take warfarin, talk to your doctor first. Green tea contains caffeine. Grape juice is high in natural sugar. Ask your doctor before taking more than 1,000 µg of folic acid a day. Tell me in the comments which of the 12 is already on your plate this week. #DNARepair #AntiAging #Longevity