While you may know your actual age, did you know that your ‘biological age’ could actually be completely different?
VeryWell Health explains: “Chronological age is the number of years you’ve been alive, while biological age refers to how old your cells and tissues are based on physiological evidence.
“If you’re especially healthy and fit for your age, your biological age may well be lower than your chronological age. But if you’re sedentary, chronically ill, or in poor physical condition, your biological age may be higher.”
The health experts added that your biological age could be more accurate for predicting disease and death than your chronological age.
Cool, cool, cool.
How to find out your biological age
Speaking on the latest ZOE podcast, Dr. Valter Longo, Director of the Longevity Institute at USC reveals: “So there was a study years ago, showing I think [the participants] were all chronologically 38 years old and some of them biologically were in their 20s and some of them were in their 40s and if not later.
″...You can have a 20 years of difference between chronological age and biological age.”
ZOE cofounder Jonathan Wolf then asks if we can simply go to our doctor and ask for a test to identify our biological age.
This may seem a little too simplistic, but according to Dr Longo, that’s exactly what we should do.
He says: “Most doctors will now, either they know of a company that does this, or they can find out. So most doctors, yeah, will be able to order you one.”
He also adds that many doctors should also be able to use the Morgan Levine approach which looks at biomarkers from a simple blood test to identify biological age.
The NHS offers a ‘heart age’ calculator
If you’re looking for a simplified approach, the NHS offers a ‘heart age’ calculator on their website, available to people aged 30-95 and all you need to do it is a note of your:
- weight
- height
- blood pressure
- cholesterol
The health service adds that even if you don’t have your blood pressure and cholesterol levels to hand, you can still do the test but it may not be as accurate.