What If Aging Was Modifiable? The Science Behind Biological Age + How To Find Out Yours

There are so many different ways to look at aging. In our western culture, aging is often portrayed as a long and inevitable decline into pain and sickness. It’s no wonder so many people fear it, and try to defy it. But while we all do get older, that experience is vastly different for everyone, and there’s a lot more to it than the number of years we’ve been alive. 

Unlike the number of years we’ve been alive, which is our chronological age, we have more control than most people realize over the effects of aging within our bodies, and over how we feel. We can see this clearly when we look at the concept of biological age, which is an analysis of how fast our cells and tissues are aging. 

Biological age corresponds to risk of age-related illnesses including heart disease and cognitive decline, and it can be modified with diet and lifestyle related inputs. This means that even as we get older chronologically, we actually have the power to slow or even reverse biological signs of aging, and feel healthy at any age. 

Let’s take a deeper look at how this works. 

What Is Biological Age? 

Biological age is a measure of how rapidly your body appears to be aging based on the condition of your cells. This concept was first mentioned in the scientific literature in 1969, and has evolved since then, with researchers zeroing in on key biomarkers and developing algorithms to estimate biological age with more accuracy than ever. (1, 2) 

Our chronological age is one factor that influences cellular or biological age. Genetics are also a component. But at any given time, our cellular health is also being influenced by environmental factors, including physical and emotional stress, diet, exposure to toxins, sleep quality, and lifestyle factors. 

We now know that these environmental factors are more impactful than genetics when it comes to determining our lifespan—researchers once believed that genetics were the main factor, but we now know that this is not the case. (3) 

Biological age affects us in real ways. When biological age is higher, we have an increased likelihood of developing diseases including insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes, cognitive decline or dementia, heart disease, kidney failure, muscle loss, bone loss, autoimmune conditions, and cancer. (4) 

Understanding Healthspan vs Lifespan 

I want to take a step back for a minute and talk about the concepts of lifespan and healthspan. With more people than ever interested in longevity, I always think it’s important to ask ourselves what that means to us. 

Is it about just stretching out one’s life (in the chronological sense) or is it about wanting to feel good, sharp, strong, and vibrant into our 80s and 90s, so that we can enjoy this beautiful time in our lives? So that we can spend more time with the people we love, and continue to learn, explore, and grow as human beings? I think most of you reading this would say it’s the latter, which brings us to the concept of not just optimizing for more years in our life but for more life in our years. 

A holistic approach to longevity takes into consideration not just the number of years you live (lifespan), but the time you spend living in good physical and mental health (healthspan). That’s what I’m talking about when I talk about biological age—not trying to deny the natural and beautiful transitions that occur as we get older, but to find ways to stay healthy while going through them. 

How Can I Determine My Biological Age? 

Biological age can be estimated using different combinations of test results and biomarkers. (5) Some specialized testing companies offer panels where biological age will be calculated for you as part of your results, and there are also aging calculators online where you can enter the values from blood tests you’ve done with your general practitioner or elsewhere and receive a result. 

The best studied methods for calculating biological age are based on the epigenetic clock theory of aging, which primarily analyzes DNA methylation using blood, saliva, and/or cheek swab samples. (6, 7) DNA methylation is a biological process that plays a significant role regulating gene expression, cellular repair, metabolism, and more. 

Many aging calculators also look at the results of more standard blood tests including a complete blood count (CBC), comprehensive metabolic panel (CMP), and lipid panel, to determine biological age by analyzing the health of your kidneys, liver, metabolism, measures of inflammation and oxidative stress, and more. (8) 

Other emerging methods include studying senescent cells (“zombie cells”) and the use of an AI-enabled EKG. (9)  

What Do My Results Mean? 

Biological age is a measure of how rapidly your cells are aging. If your biological age is roughly the same as your actual (chronological) age, it means your body appears to be aging at a typical rate. If your biological age is lower than your chronological age, your body appears to be aging more slowly than is typical, and if your biological age is higher, your body appears to be aging more rapidly. 

Remember that unlike your chronological age, this measure is, like other lab test results, a snapshot in time. Diet, lifestyle, and other environmental changes can change the rate at which your cells are aging, and can even reverse damage. 

Is It Worth Testing? 

There are pros and cons to testing your biological age, and it’s really an individual decision. I like testing because data can help us make more informed and precise decisions about our health. 

I also think biological age testing can be motivating: it may serve as an important signal that something needs to change, or provide reassurance that you’re on the right track. 

But everyone responds differently to this kind of information. If you worry that finding out your biological age may cause you anxiety, it’s important to listen to that signal, too. And ultimately, whether you get your biological age tested or not, you can still take action at any time to slow cellular aging and improve healthspan. In other words, you can improve your biological age without knowing your biological age. 

Understanding Epigenetics

Epigenetics refers to the ways in which our environment controls which of our genes are turned “on” or “off”. We can’t control our genes, but we have some control over whether or not they’re expressed. 

The concept of epigenetics is at the heart of biological aging, because what we’re really looking at is changes in genetic expression that impact aging at the cellular level. 

How To Improve Biological Age and Improve Healthspan 

So how can we harness the power of epigenetics, improve our biological age, and spend more years thriving? 

The key principle is that we want to do things that reduce cellular decay and damage, and encourage cellular renewal and resilience. And we can do that with the help of these tried and true diet and lifestyle interventions. 

• Eat real, nourishing foods. Food is one of the most powerful levers when it comes to modifying biological age and healthy aging. (10) Remember that this, as with the other interventions I’ll list, goes both ways: processed foods and refined sugars accelerate biological aging, while nutrient-dense foods, phytonutrients from plants, healthy fats, and high quality proteins support cellular health. (11) You can also amp up your cellular superfood intake with Liv120 from Longevity Rx, which includes the full spectrum of health-promoting colors to power your body’s longevity pathways. 
• Prioritize sleep quality. Sleep is HUGE when it comes to cellular aging. Sleep deprivation as well as poor quality sleep can increase stress levels and inflammation and inhibit cellular repair, all of which accelerate aging. (12) Aim for 7-9 hours of sleep at consistent times, and support your circadian rhythm for better quality, more restorative sleep—you can do this with natural sunlight first thing in the morning when possible and powering off screens and harsh lights in the evening. I always recommend keeping your bedroom cool and dark at night, and if you struggle to fall asleep, try mindfulness practices or a hot bath or sauna before bed. 
• Find a healthy stress balance. Chronic stress can lead to premature aging by triggering systemic inflammation, impeding cellular repair, shortening DNA telomeres, and increasing methylation. (13) On the other hand, acute and intentional stressors like cold and heat therapy and vigorous exercise can help to create better stress adaptation mechanisms and slow aging. Make sure to take time for rest, recovery, and practices that help you feel balanced, such as nature walks, breathwork, and exploring your interests or passions. (14) 
• Exercise daily. Adopting a daily movement practice is one of the most important things you can do to improve biological age and healthspan. (15) This doesn’t have to mean an intense workout every day; I recommend a balance of strength training, aerobic fitness, and low impact activities spread out throughout the week. 
• Try intermittent fasting. Intermittent fasting can stimulate autophagy, a process of cellular cleanup that offers significant benefits for biological age. (16) My book Intuitive Fasting breaks down a flexible plan to work fasting into your life. 
• Reduce toxin exposure. We can’t totally get away from toxins, but most of us can find at least a few areas to make changes, like replacing household and personal care products with natural options and drinking clean, filtered water. 
• Foster and maintain strong relationships. Strong relationships and social connections can actually be protective against age-related diseases and play a big role in improving healthspan. (17) Try to prioritize community and human connection in any way that you can. 

An Empowering Perspective on Healthy Aging 

In my opinion, knowing that we can make changes in our day-to-day lives to slow and even reverse cellular aging and modify our biological age is incredibly empowering. It’s also important to remember that we’re not trying to control every aspect of getting older. Getting older is, of course, natural, but why not try to do it with more clarity, strength, and vitality? 

READ NEXT: Inflammaging: The Inflammation + Aging Connection 

As one of the first functional medicine telehealth clinics in the world, we provide webcam health consultations for people around the globe. 

Photo: Unsplash.com

Sources

• Comfort, A. (1969). Test-battery to measure ageing-rate in man. The Lancet, 294(7635), 1411-1415.
• Zhang, Q. (2023). An interpretable biological age. The Lancet Healthy longevity, 4(12), e662-e663.
• Argentieri, M. A., Amin, N., Nevado-Holgado, A. J., Sproviero, W., Collister, J. A., Keestra, S. M., … & van
• Duijn, C. M. (2025). Integrating the environmental and genetic architectures of aging and mortality. Nature medicine, 1-10.
• Li, G., Cheng, L., Wong, I. N., Yin, Y., Chen, J., Liu, L., & Zhang, K. (2025). Predicting healthspan and disease risks through biological age. Trends in Molecular Medicine.
• Mathur, A., Taurin, S., & Alshammary, S. (2024). New insights into methods to measure biological age: a literature review. Frontiers in Aging, 5, 1395649.
• Horvath, S., & Raj, K. (2018). DNA methylation-based biomarkers and the epigenetic clock theory of ageing. Nature reviews genetics, 19(6), 371-384.
• Horvath, S. (2013). DNA methylation age of human tissues and cell types. Genome biology, 14(10), 3156.
• Bortz, J., Guariglia, A., Klaric, L., Tang, D., Ward, P., Geer, M., … & Joshi, P. K. (2023). Biological age estimation using circulating blood biomarkers. Communications biology, 6(1), 1089.
• Ladejobi, A. O., Medina-Inojosa, J. R., Shelly Cohen, M., Attia, Z. I., Scott, C. G., LeBrasseur, N. K., … &
• Lopez-Jimenez, F. (2021). The 12-lead electrocardiogram as a biomarker of biological age. European Heart Journal-Digital Health, 2(3), 379-389.
• Martinez-Gonzalez, M. A., & Martin-Calvo, N. (2016). Mediterranean diet and life expectancy; beyond olive oil, fruits, and vegetables. Current Opinion in Clinical Nutrition & Metabolic Care, 19(6), 401-407.
• Cardoso, B. R., Liu, J., Machado, P., Kwon, D., Belsky, D. W., & Martinez Steele, E. (2024). Association between ultra-processed food intake and biological ageing in US adults: findings from National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2003–2010. Age and Ageing, 53(12), afae268.
• Li, H., & Qian, F. (2023). Low-risk sleep patterns, mortality, and life expectancy at age 30 years: a prospective study of 172 321 us adults. Journal of the American College of Cardiology, 81(8_Supplement), 1675-1675.
• Harvanek, Z. M., Fogelman, N., Xu, K., & Sinha, R. (2021). Psychological and biological resilience modulates the effects of stress on epigenetic aging. Translational Psychiatry, 11(1), 601.
• Poganik, J. R., Zhang, B., Baht, G. S., Tyshkovskiy, A., Deik, A., Kerepesi, C., … & Gladyshev, V. N. (2023). Biological age is increased by stress and restored upon recovery. Cell metabolism, 35(5), 807-820.
• Lee, D. H., Rezende, L. F., Joh, H. K., Keum, N., Ferrari, G., Rey-Lopez, J. P., … & Giovannucci, E. L. (2022). Long-term leisure-time physical activity intensity and all-cause and cause-specific mortality: a prospective cohort of US adults. Circulation, 146(7), 523-534.
• Erlangga, Z., Ghashang, S. K., Hamdan, I., Melk, A., Gutenbrunner, C., & Nugraha, B. (2023). The effect of prolonged intermittent fasting on autophagy, inflammasome and senescence genes expressions: an exploratory study in healthy young males. Human Nutrition & Metabolism, 32, 200189.
• Ong, A. D., Mann, F. D., & Kubzansky, L. D. (2025). Cumulative social advantage is associated with slower epigenetic aging and lower systemic inflammation. Brain, Behavior, & Immunity-Health, 101096.