When someone asks you about your age, you are likely to mention your chronological age. But have you ever heard of a doctor saying, ‘You have the metabolism of a 21-year-old’ regardless of your chronological age? That’s a sign of your biological age, which is more aptly a sign of your health and can be calculated with the help of a biological age calculator.
What you need to know:
- Importance of understanding biological age for health and longevity
- What is your biological age?
- How to measure biological age?
- Lifestyle factors that contribute to biological aging
- How to improve biological age?
Importance of understanding biological age for health and longevity
How fit someone is can determine details about their health issues and mortality, which can be calculated with the help of biological age. Once you understand the difference between your chronological and biological age, taking care of your health according to ailments and lifestyle conditions becomes easier.
What is your biological age?
The biological age only denotes how your body has aged health-wise compared to your chronological age. This number doesn’t just depend on how many birthdays you’ve celebrated. It also considers your lifestyle conditions, nutrition and illnesses.
How it differs from chronological age?
Chronological age means the time from your birth to your current age. It is quite distinct from a person’s biological age because many physiological, lifestyle-related, food or nutrition-related factors and illnesses/comorbidities affect your biological age. With the help of the biological age calculator, these factors can determine what kind of ailments you will have to deal with in your old age.
Different methods for measuring biological age
There are different methods for measuring the biological age of any human being. Every biological age test considers specific factors involving different organs or parts of the body and how they have progressed or been damaged since a person’s birth.
One of the methods is to consider a person’s blood sample. It also requires studying the cell damage; for that, they might take a cheek skin swab. DNA can also be a huge indicator of what kinds of ailments one might inherit from their family.
There are other clinical measures as well that determine a person’s biological age by studying the immune system or overall metabolism of the person. Any damage to the liver, kidneys and heart, are also pertinent indicators of what the biological age could be.
How to measure biological age?
You can calculate your biological age on an online questionnaire or a biological age calculator like the Activ Age Calculator. This simple questionnaire uses your actual age and then considers factors like your blood sugar level, cholesterol level, eating habits and lifestyle to calculate your biological age. This only indicates your health; you can consult a health expert or doctor for a second opinion.
Lifestyle factors that contribute to biological aging
Knowing your biological age can help you get a more accurate understanding of the state of your health. Here are a few factors that have an adverse effect on your biological age:
- A lack of physical activity and exercise
- An unhealthy diet which is high in sugar and leads to weight gain
- Health conditions like diabetes and hypertension, among others.
How to improve biological age?
Along with your Activ Age, the test will also provide you with a low, high or medium risk profile. You don’t need to lose hope if you have an Activ Age higher than your actual age with a higher risk profile. This is a fluctuating number and can be reduced by small efforts. Here are 5 tips to improve your Activ Age.
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Exercise regularly
You can start with a goal of walking for an hour or completing 10,000 steps every day. This workout can burn 300 calories and gets you started on your fitness journey.
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Adopt healthy eating habits
Try adding foods like fruits and vegetables, beans, low-fat dairy, and high-fiber grains to your diet. Also, try to have your meals at the right time by making a schedule and sticking to it.
Avoid unhealthy foods with preservatives and additives, packaged food items, oily and fried food, food full of carbs and sugary/salty food is crucial because they have very few nutrients and are detrimental to our overall health. They also lead to a lot of chronic diseases that can have a negative impact on our biological age.
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Quit smoking and avoid alcohol
Cigarette smoking and alcohol consumption can set your Activ Age rising. Try to cut down on your regular consumption and refrain from smoking.
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Get adequate sleep and rest
Lack of sleep can lead to feeling tired all the time and is linked to lifestyle conditions like diabetes, hypertension and even mental health illnesses like depression.
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Reducing the use of gadgets that EMF radiation
Gadgets like cell phones, earphones/headphones, computers or laptops and other devices like the microwave, smart televisions, wifi etc., emit radiation, which can be harmful to our bodies. Sleeping with your phone on your bed or using earphones all the time can have a detrimental effect on your biological age. So, limit your usage of such gadgets.
If you take good care of your body, eat good food, exercise daily, keep a check on lifestyle conditions that might get passed on to you through your genes and avoid unnecessary addictions, you might have a chance at increasing your biological age and leading a happy life.
Stay tuned to the Activ Living Community. Keep up to date with the latest health tips and trends through expert videos, podcasts, articles, and much more in nutrition, fitness, mindfulness, and lifestyle conditions like Asthma, Blood Pressure, Cholesterol, and Diabetes.
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