Doctor reveals the one exercise that can 'slow down' the ageing process

A doctor has revealed a great exercise to do which may 'delay' ageing.

Shocking idea, but we could all just let our skin wrinkle, hairs turn grey and embrace the process? Yes, I am partly saying this because I started finding grey patches of hair in my head at the age of just 21.

However, if you are that adamant about defying the laws of nature, then a doctor has an exercise which could help - don't panic, it's not running.

Look, I get it, no one wants to get old and in particular - feel old. It's no fun knowing in however many years time, it'll take an extra day or two longer to recover from a heavy night out, your knees won't cope quite as well when you drag yourself for a run and you'll eventually get to a stage where getting out of bed isn't even a choice you begrudgingly even get to make anymore.

But if you don't want to shell out millions every year like biohacker Bryan Johnson in a bid to stop the ageing process, apparently there's one particular activity which is proven to 'slow down' the process and - unless you want to fork out a fancy membership for it - it's free.

Grab your yoga mat, it's time to slow down the ageing process. (Getty Stock Images/The Good Brigade)

The exercise

On his BBC podcast titled Just One Thing, Dr Michael Mosley spoke about the potential benefits of Hatha yoga.

Healthline describes Hatha yoga as 'an umbrella term to describe many of the most common forms of yoga taught in the West today' which sees participants move their body 'slowly' but 'deliberately' with poses to 'challenge strength and flexibility' while also focusing on 'relaxation and mindfulness' through 'controlled breathing and posture'.

More and more studies are revealing the benefits of yoga in combatting some of the effects of ageing. (Getty Stock Images/MoMo Productions)

How it 'slows down' ageing

Well, Dr Mosley noted that most types of yoga 'involves physical poses, breath control and meditation' which when done 'regularly' is 'shown to lower chronic inflammation, which could help reduce depression and anxiety, and some exciting new research suggests it could even benefit you at a cellular level'.

He added: "There is some really interesting research that suggests that doing regular yoga can lower chronic inflammation - which is linked to heart disease and cancer - and also doing yoga can boost your mood, which might help you with motivation and get you going in other areas of activity."

And there are multiple studies beginning to scientifically prove this.

Yoga also promotes mindfulness. (Getty Stock Images/WeAre)

Proof

A 12-week long study which took place in 2017 - and is published in Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity - saw 96 individuals enrolled to receive 'Yoga and Meditation based lifestyle intervention' to see how it impacted their body's cells' lifespans. The study found the yoga and meditation 'significantly reduced the rate of cellular ageing'.

Another 2017 pilot study incorporated patients with depression. One group of the participants studied the history of yoga and the other actively participated in yoga sessions, both for 90 minutes every week. The result? The study group reportedly only saw a 10 percent improvement in their depression levels, compared to 60 percent of the yoga group who allegedly ended up no longer being considered clinically depressed.

And the NHS even writes about the benefits of yoga on its website, noting research shows it can benefit mental health conditions such as anxiety and depression, alongside back pain, chronic fatigue and blood pressure. It can also 'help with' promoting calmness, 'reducing stress and tension', 'improving circulation' and 'muscle tone, flexibility, strength and stamina'.

Anyone who's tried it will know it's harder than it looks, but I'll take it over running any day. (Getty Stock Images/Luca Sage)

'Exciting new research'

Dr Mosley said there's theories that 'yoga might also boost our mitochondrial function' - the units inside our cells which 'provide us with energy'.

Professor Rima Dada, from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi, added that when mitochondria produce less energy, that is 'actually the cause of functional decline of tissue' and 'how we start to age'.

She resolved: "Through our studies, we have found yoga can improve the mitochondrial integrity as well as the nuclear DNA integrity.

"If the mitochondrial integrity improves, it produces more ATP, more energy and thereby you can slow down the functional decline of the tissues.

"If we can improve the mitochondrial integrity, decrease the oxidative stress and inflammation, enhance the total anti-oxidant capacity by yoga, we can actually delay or slow down the rate of cellular ageing, thereby reducing our biological age."