How do we measure Biological Age?
Why do some 70 year old’s have more energy and vitality than many 20 year old’s? Your years on this planet are NOT the measure of how healthy or vital you are at any point in your life.
When doctors determine a patient’s biological age, they look at many factors.
Some measure telomere telomere length bloodwork. Methylation single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) like MTHFR play a role as well.
Lifestyle factors like amount of sleep, smoking, alcohol intake, stress level, career and eating habits also play huge roles in determining biological age.
And it’s possible to arrive at a number, and then see that number decrease a few months later. This usually happens after making some lifestyle changes and adding supplementation.
What Can I Do To Slow or Reverse the Aging Process?
What do you need to change your biological age? That’s something that can only be determined by looking at your individual body.
Your unique needs determine the treatment that’s right for you. Nature and nurture are both at play here.
You can’t change your chronological age (thinking of the car analogy, your “date of manufacture”). And you can’t change your genetic inheritance, either.
But you can be careful to fuel your cells in a way that promotes a long and healthy life!
The best way to slow or reverse biological aging is to understand your genetic predispositions and use your lifestyle to nurture yourself accordingly.
This process starts with genetic testing, which can reveal the genetic predispositions you carry.
Once you understand this, you can make the changes necessary to improve your biological age!
Healthy Nutrition
You fuel your cells through the foods you eat day in and day out. Including a wide variety of fruits, vegetables, proteins and healthy fats in your diet provides a great foundation for reversing your biological age.
Staying hydrated with plenty of water throughout the day also plays a vital role in keeping your cells healthy.
Supplementation
Adding nutritional vitamin and mineral supplements when gaps exist in your daily nutrition can decrease biological age in a powerful way.
Which supplements you need depends largely on your unique biology and SNPs.
Adding Movement
Adding an evening walk, some heavy lifting or a yoga class to your day can benefit your biological age in many ways!
Exercise can add strength, flexibility, endurance, energy and balance to carry you through life as time goes on.
Healthy Relationships
When we think about a healthy lifestyle, we so often fail to address our relationships. But we know that stress is associated with premature aging. And close relationships can be a huge source of stress for many people!
This isn’t to say you should bail whenever you have a little spat with a friend. But consider setting boundaries in your close relationships for the sake of your mental health and stress level. And be sure to make time for fun and laughter with friends!
Work Environment
This is a hard one since our work environments can be somewhat out of our control.
If you’re self-employed, you can take steps to change your schedule and workflow to promote greater biological health.
But if your job is literally killing you, it might be time to make a change. A temporary decrease in pay could very well be worth the long-term benefit to your health.
Sleep Habits
Staying up late can be so tempting. You know you’ll regret it in the morning, but this might be the only time you get to yourself all week!
Adequate sleep is an important part of your overall health. If Netflix is calling, or a good book, set limitations for yourself (one episode, or one chapter, or crossword puzzles only!) that help you get to sleep sooner.
Create an environment that’s conducive to sleep — a cool room, some darkening shades and a little quiet white noise — to help you get drowsy faster and sleep more peacefully.
Try making some aesthetic changes to your bedroom so you look forward to slipping under the covers each night.
You Can’t Change Your Chronological Age
But you CAN change your biological age through the right combination of lifestyle and nutrients. And Uforia, a company that custom makes a multivitamin based on your DNA profile and ships it directly to you is here to help support you every step of the way. This blog was written under the guidance and contribution of Dr. Jen Myers, Chief Science Officer.
Dr. Jen Myers, Ph.D., DNM, DCN, DACM Chief Science Officer, Uforia Science
Dr. Jen Myers is a genetic expert and functional genomics specialist, focusing on Nutrigenetic Medicine.