A Vital Secret Found in the Intestines of Centenarians 0 10

Who would have thought that our intestines would become the subject of such boundless interest and fascination? Influencers on social media promote unverified supplements that are claimed to improve gut health, while dairy and kombucha producers promise to enrich it with 'beneficial bacteria.'

The British BBC publishes a conversation with James Kinross. He is a professor of surgery at Imperial College London and a practicing colorectal surgeon, but perhaps the most colorful part of his work is this: he analyzes human feces.

'A few weeks ago, I sent a sample of my stool to the lab,' says the professor. 'Such tests can provide insights into the microbiome of our intestines — the trillions of microbes that inhabit the gut (mostly bacteria, but also viruses and fungi).'

'I am an advocate for the microbiome,' says Kinross. 'It is so deeply rooted in all aspects of our health.'

He believes that the gut may play a crucial role in the aging process, influencing longevity and physical strength in old age.

Maria Branyas Morera was the oldest person in the world. After her death in 2024 in northern Spain at the age of 117, scientists collected samples of her stool, blood, saliva, and urine and compared them with samples from 75 other women from the Iberian Peninsula.

It is known that she led a generally healthy lifestyle: living in the countryside, walking for an hour a day, and adhering to a Mediterranean diet rich in oils.

But her main distinction from others was that she consumed three servings of yogurt every day.

Co-author of the study, Dr. Manel Esteller, a geneticist from the University of Barcelona, believes that Morera's habit of eating yogurt may have provided her with a high level of beneficial bacteria that can reduce inflammatory processes.

'Her cells appeared younger than her age,' says Esteller.

There have been other studies on centenarians — the superheroes of longevity. Scientists have repeatedly examined the guts of this group of people over 100 years old and found an impressive diversity of bacteria.

In another study published in 2022 in the journal Nature, scientists from Jiaoling County in southeastern China took stool samples from 18 centenarians and found a high diversity of bacteria compared to younger individuals.