Five lifestyle changes that might help you live longer and slow down ageing

Society is fascinated with health, fitness and longevity. This obsession has spawned a multi-million pound industry centred around pushing the latest cutting-edge science, lifestyle modifications and products that claim to prevent ageing and live as long as possible.

But the secret to a long life doesn’t have to be so complicated. There are many simple things everyone can do to slow down time and feel younger.

When we talk about age, we aren’t always talking about how many candles are on your birthday cake. We actually have two different ages.

The first is of course chronological age. This is the number of years you’ve been alive.

But we also have a “biological age.” This is sometimes referred to as “true age” or “internal body age.” This refers to how well all of the body’s internal systems are functioning by looking for signs of ageing in the cells, blood and DNA.

Research indicates that a person’s biological age, rather than their chronological age, is related to how long they live. Let’s say you looked at two 60-year-old people. The person whose biological age is younger would be more likely to outlive the person who had a higher biological age.

There are now many ways to measure your biological age with epigenetic testing, which only requires a little bit of spit and can be done at home. The saliva sample is then processed in a lab where the DNA is extracted to get information about what’s happening in the body.

The everyday lifestyle choices we make affects our biological age. While some of the decisions we make can increase it (such as drinking, smoking or being inactive), other factors can actually turn back the clock. Thus, how long we live may truly be in our hands.

Here are five evidence-backed ways of reducing your biological age:

1. Run away from ageing – literally

Being more physically active and regularly exercising throughout life reduces risk of death from all causes – directly increasing longevity.

It’s also never too late to get started. One study found that sedentary people who adopted an eight-week exercise programme (60 minute workouts done three times a week) reversed their biological age by around two years.

A mixture of strength and endurance exercises done three to four times a week (with sessions as short as 23 minutes) is also shown to significantly reduce ageing.

Exercise influences something called DNA methylation, a process which controls whether certain genes are “on” or “off.” As we age it’s natural that our genes start switching off – this is why we get winkles and grey hair.

But exercise helps to slow these processes down, meaning the genes that help do important functions in the body continue doing their job for longer.

2. You are what you eat

Making healthier food choices directly reduces biological age. This effect is even greater in those with chronic disease and obesity.

One study, which looked at nearly 2,700 women, found that adopting healthier eating patterns for 6-12 months was a key factor in staying younger for longer. This diet was also shown to slow ageing by an average of 2.4 years.

Healthier food choices included eating more fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, legumes, fish, lean proteins and healthy fats (such as oil) and reducing intake of red meat, saturated fat, added sugars and sodium.

A well-balanced diet provides antioxidants, vitamins and anti-inflammatory compounds that help cells repair damage and reduce stress on our DNA. These nutrients also influence DNA methylation.

3. Improve sleep habits

Sleep is one of the strongest predictors of healthy ageing because it affects nearly every bodily system. Good quality sleep allows the body to repair DNA, restore hormonal balance, reduce inflammation and clear cellular waste – helping the immune, metabolic and nervous systems stay youthful and resilient.

One review showed that sleep quality is directly associated with how fast we age. People who sleep less than five hours per night have a significantly increased risk of age-related diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, cancer and dementia.

Additionally, a large UK study of nearly 200,000 participants found that those on shift work – and particularly night shifts – had a biological age around one year higher than their counterparts who worked at normal hours.

4. Avoid unhealthy vices

Habits such as vaping, smoking and drinking alcohol are the strongest and most consistent accelerators of ageing.

Smoking, for instance, is shown to rapidly age the lungs by up to 4.3 years and the airway cells by nearly five years.

Similarly, a study looking at 8,046 adults aged 30–79 years old found that consuming any amount of alcohol was associated with accelerated biological ageing. The more alcohol consumed the more age is accelerated.

These habits speed up biological ageing because they directly damage DNA, increase inflammation and overload cells with stress. This causes the body and organs to work harder – ageing them quicker.

5. Master your mind

Stress management is key. Research shows that being able to regulate emotions and manage stress levels predicts age acceleration. Another study found that working more than 40 hours a week on average increased biological age by two years, probably due to the stress.

Stress can directly accelerate biological age due to the way it affects hormonal response, damages DNA and reduces immunity. Stress can also indirectly affect other factors that may accelerate age, such as diet, sleep and whether we drink or smoke. This is why having a set of positive coping mechanisms to manage stress is so important.

Read more: Your body can be younger than you are – here's how to understand (and improve) your 'biological age'

A growing body of research is also showing that factors such as loneliness, exposure to extreme heat and cold, air pollution and our environment (such as living in deprived areas) can all also affect how we age.

It’s important to note that the affect of these factors on age may vary depending on the person, their genetics, how long they’ve stuck with these lifestyle habits and other factors at play.

Nevertheless, this gives insight into how changing even small habits can positively improve health and well-being and, in some cases, turn back the clock.

This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit, independent news organization bringing you facts and trustworthy analysis to help you make sense of our complex world. It was written by: Henry Chung, University of Essex and Charlotte Gowers, Anglia Ruskin University

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Dr Henry Chung receives funding from Innovate UK, the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), and UK Research and Innovation (UKRI). No funding from this organisations was received for the work described in this article.

Charlotte Gowers does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.