Your physiological age and not your chronological age is a better predictor of how you'll live, says a new study by Cleveland Clinic. The study substantiates the fact - which has been established time and again - that exercise or physical activity is important for living a healthy and long life. The study was published in the European Journal Of Preventive Cardiology on February 13th, 2019 and it was titled, "Estimated age based on exercise stress testing performance outperforms chronological age in predicting mortality". The large-scale study was carried out with the participation of 1,26,356 people, with average age of 53.5 years. A person's physiological age indicates how well they respond to exercise and that is what, says this particular study, matters when predicting longevity of a person. The researchers of the study formulated a system to analyse how well or poorly a participant exercises.
The study aimed at estimating a "patients' age-based on their stress testing exercise performance (A-BEST), and evaluate whether A-BEST would be a better predictor of mortality when compared to chronological age." During the test, the patients were made to walk on the treadmill, while the researchers increased the intensity of the workout. During the workout, the researchers measured the participants' exercise capacity, increase in heart rate in response to the exercise as well as recovery of heart rate. They followed up with the participants for over eight years and concluded that physiological age was a much better predictor of mortality, as compared to chronological age. It has been believed for the longest time that the older you are, the more your risk of death.
"We strongly believe this estimated age provides both patients and healthcare providers a convenient and simple transformation of exercise variables into a more easily understandable and refined risk estimate, with the premise that this would lead to positive behavioural changes", said the authors in conclusion.
Diet is also important to improve longevity. Here are some foods that you can include in your diet to fight ageing and add years to your life:
1. Green Veggies
2. Whole Grains
3. Berries
4. Nuts and Seeds
5. Fermented Foods