Do you know your ‘biological age'? It not only refers to the number of candles on your cake but also to how well your body's internal systems are functioning.
Although the chronological age refers to the number of years you've been alive, your biological age defines how long you will live.
With epigenetic testing, you can now measure your biological age with a simple at-home saliva test.
The results reveal how your lifestyle choices, such as diet, exercise, and habits like smoking or drinking, impact your body's age. The good news is that healthy choices can actually reverse your biological age, putting you in control of your longevity.
Here are five simple lifestyle changes, according to the longevity experts Dr Sophie Shotter And Nadine Baggott that can reduce your biological age:
1. Embrace A Youthful Spirit
You need to literally avoid ageing by being more physically active. Exercising regularly, even for a couple of minutes a day, brisk walking and taking part in other physical activities that involve various movements of the body, reduces the risk of deadly diseases, which, in turn, directly increases longevity.
According to a report by The Independent, say exercise influences DNA methylation, which controls genes that help delay ageing-related conditions such as wrinkles and grey hair.
2. Make Healthier Food Choices
Eating habits are directly related to chronic disease and obesity, which further hampers the biological age. The report claims that nearly 2,700 women who adopted healthier eating patterns for 6-12 months slowed ageing by an average of 2.4 years.
Meals should include more fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, legumes, fish, lean proteins and healthy fats (such as vegetable oils) that help cells repair damage and reduce stress on our DNA.
3. Optimum Amount Of Sleep
Healthy sleep habits have always been key to proper body function. Eight hours of sleep a day regularly allows the body to repair DNA, restore hormonal balance, reduce inflammation and clear cellular waste. It helps in reducing the risk of age-related diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, cancer and dementia.
4. Avoid Unhealthy Vices
Vaping, smoking and drinking alcohol are among the most potent accelerators of ageing. As per the report, smoking rapidly ages the lungs by up to 4.3 years and the airway cells by nearly five years. They directly damage DNA, increase inflammation and overload cells with stress.
5. Stress Management
Stress can damage DNA by disrupting hormonal response regulators, which can further compromise the body's immune system. Thus, it's important for every individual to regulate emotions to increase their biological age at least by a few years.
Research suggests that external factors like loneliness, extreme temperatures, air pollution, and our environment can also influence the process of ageing. However, the impact of these factors varies from person to person, depending on genetics, duration of exposure and individual circumstances.