Not smoking, exercising regularly and keeping your cholesterol in check could make your biological age younger than your chronological age
By Chen Ly
6 November 2023
Exercising regularly is one of eight recommendations for a healthy heart and a young biological age
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Following eight healthy behaviours could cut years off your biological age, which may help to keep you in good health for longer.
The Life’s Essential 8 checklist was created by the American Heart Association (AHA) to help people improve their cardiovascular health. Its recommendations include getting at least 150 minutes of moderate or 75 minutes of vigorous physical activity per week, eating a balanced diet full of vegetables, nuts and lean protein, and not smoking.
The remaining recommendations are to get between seven and nine hours of sleep a night, maintain a healthy weight and keep your cholesterol, blood sugar and blood pressure in check.
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Now, in a study that will be presented at the AHA’s Scientific Sessions in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on 12 November, Nour Makarem at Columbia University in New York and her colleagues have found that adhering to this checklist doesn’t only boost heart health, but could also decelerate the biological ageing process.
The researchers assessed how closely more than 6500 participants of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) followed the checklist. This was based on them self-reporting their adherence to its dietary, exercise, smoking and sleep recommendations, while their weight, cholesterol, blood sugar and blood pressure were all measured.
The team also calculated their phenotypic ages, an indication of biological age that is determined by measuring levels of chemicals in the body that are involved in metabolism, inflammation and organ function, such as glucose and creatinine.