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Do you understand your "biological age"? This term goes beyond just counting your birthdays; it also indicates how well your body's inner systems are performing. While your chronological age tells how many years you've lived, your biological age reflects your overall life expectancy. With epigenetic testing, you can now determine your biological age using an easy saliva test at home. The outcomes show how your lifestyle decisions, including what you eat, how much you exercise, and habits like smoking or drinking, affect your body's aging process. The positive aspect is that making healthy choices can actually reduce your biological age, giving you power over how long you live. Here are five straightforward lifestyle adjustments, according to longevity specialists Dr Sophie Shotter and Nadine Baggott, that can help lower your biological age:
Adopt a Youthful Attitude: To truly fend off aging, it's important to be more physically active. Regular exercise, even for just a few minutes daily, brisk walking, and engaging in other physical activities that involve different body movements can lower the chances of serious diseases, which then boosts longevity. As reported by The Independent, exercise impacts DNA methylation, which influences genes that help prevent aging-related issues like wrinkles and grey hair.
Choose Healthier Foods: Your eating habits are closely linked to chronic illnesses and obesity, which can speed up biological aging. The report states that almost 2,700 women who made healthier dietary choices over 6 to 12 months reduced their aging by an average of 2.4 years. Meals should focus on more fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, legumes, fish, lean proteins, and healthy fats like vegetable oils, all of which assist in repairing cells and alleviating stress on our DNA.
Get Enough Sleep: Good sleep habits have always been essential for proper body function. Regularly getting eight hours of sleep helps the body repair DNA, balance hormones, cut down inflammation, and get rid of cellular waste. It plays a role in lowering the chances of aging-related diseases like diabetes, heart problems, cancer, and dementia.
Steer Clear of Unhealthy Habits: Activities like vaping, smoking, and drinking alcohol are significant factors that accelerate aging. According to the report, smoking can age the lungs by approximately 4.3 years and airway cells by nearly five years. They cause direct harm to DNA, raise inflammation, and stress out cells.
Manage Stress: Stress can harm DNA by interfering with hormonal regulators, which can weaken the immune system. Therefore, it's crucial for everyone to control their emotions to potentially increase their biological age by several years.
Research indicates that outside factors such as feeling lonely, extreme weather, air pollution, and our settings can also affect how we age. However, the effect of these factors can vary between individuals based on genetics, how long they are exposed, and personal situations.
