How 5 women lowered their biological age by an average of 5 years

Six women, ages 46 to 65, underwent an eight-week program that included modifications to diet, sleep, and exercise. They were also given relaxation instruction, probiotic and phytonutrient supplements for women, and nutrition coaching.

Blood tests showed a reduction in biological age of up to 11 years in five of the six women, with the average participant seeing a reduction of 4.6 years, according to the study. Published last year in the magazine aging.

The average age of the participants was 58 at the start of the study, and all but one were biologically younger. For this reason, the reduction in biological age that most participants experienced during the study is unlikely to be due to disease improvement. Instead, the improvement “may be attributable to underlying aging mechanisms,” the authors — from the universities of Washington, Virginia and Illinois — wrote.

Biological age vs chronological age

What is the difference between biological age and chronological age? Simply put, chronological age is how long you have lived, while biological age is the “age of your cells.” According to Northwestern Medicine.

Biological age is also referred to as epigenetic age. The “epigenome” consists of chemicals that modify or mark the genome in a way that tells it what to do, where to do it, and when to do it. According to the National Institutes of Health in the United StatesThese changes—influenced by environmental factors such as stress, diet, medications, and pollution—can be passed from cell to cell as it divides, and from generation to generation.

It is also reversible, which this study appears to demonstrate.

Lifestyle changes that appear to reverse aging

As part of the study, participants were asked to eat the following foods daily:

• 2 cups dark leafy greens
• 2 cups cruciferous vegetables
• 3 cups of colorful vegetables
• ¼ cup pumpkin seeds
• ¼ cup sunflower seeds
• 1 to 2 beets
• Liver or liver supplements (three 3-ounce servings per week)
• One serving of eggs (5-10 eggs per week)

They were also asked to eat two servings per day of adaptogens — foods that support DNA methylation, the process that controls gene expression. Examples of a single share These foods include:

• ½ cup berries, preferably wild
• 2 medium cloves of garlic
• 2 cups green tea, boiled for 10 minutes
• 3 cups oolong tea, brewed for 10 minutes
• ½ teaspoon rosemary
• ½ teaspoon turmeric

Participants were also asked to make the following daily lifestyle adjustments:

• Take two capsules of probiotics.
• Take two servings of “vegetable powder”.
• Drink 8 glasses of water daily.
• Exercise for at least 30 minutes.
• Do breathing exercises twice.
• Sleep at least 7 hours
• Fasting for 12 hours after the last meal of the day

None of the women completed all the tasks every day, which is a good thing, the researchers wrote. Improvements in biological age were seen among women who adhered to the program 82 percent of the time. They added that the relatively high level of adherence among the patients was likely due in large part to the nutritional coaching provided.

The effect of psychological stress on biological age

A seventh participant, a male, dropped out of the study due to a family emergency. Before the study, his chronological age was 71 and his biological age was 57.6 years. His biological age was tested again eight weeks later, despite his withdrawal from the study, and it had increased to 61.6 years. Previous research has documented “sudden acceleration of biological age with various stressful events,” although the aging is reversed when the stressor disappears, the authors note.

But for some people, stress isn’t fleeting—it has a more lasting effect on aging. According to recent research presented at the European Congress of Psychiatry in Paris, those with chronic mental health conditions such as depression, anxiety and bipolar disorder are typically biologically older than their chronological age.

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