How Fast Are You Aging?

By Dr Theodore | March 5, 2010

When it comes to Anti Aging, it is critical that you determine your Biological Age – this is your actual body age in real terms. It is the true age of your cells, your organs, your systems and your whole body. Establishing your Biological Age tells you where you are relative to your  Chronological age, which is the age as determined by your birth certificate, however as far as I am concerned this is not really that relevant.

You will often find that depending on your state of health, that your biological age may be much lower or much higher than your chronological or real age.

The factors that affect your biological age or how fast you are aging in real terms are things like genetics, nutrition, exercise, supplements, stress, mental outlook, drugs, and any serious health condition.

For example, let’s take two people that are exactly the same age according to their birth certificates. Let’s say both of these people are 45 yrs of age.

One of them may have very good genetics, excellent nutrition, good exercise habits, has a toned slim body with a low body fat percentage, doesn’t smoke or drink, has not had any serious illness, and has a peaceful and calm mind. His assessment of Biological Age may indicate that he is in real terms only 35 yrs of age.

The second person may have average genetics, very poor nutrition, little or no exercise, is overweight with a high body fat percentage, smokes 1 packet of cigarettes per day, drinks alcohol regularly, is always stressed and anxious, and has suffered numerous serious health conditions. His assessment of biological age may indicate that he is in real terms 57 yrs of age.

So as you can see, we have 2 people with exactly the same chronological age, but vastly different biological ages.

This is why the field of Anti Aging medicine is so exciting: it is possible by various interventions (diet & nutrition, supplements, exercise, detoxification, hormone therapy, oxygen therapy, stem cell therapy, meditation and relaxation therapy etc) to not only stop the aging process but to reverse it. Your biological age can be changed to extend your lifespan and to make it healthy and disease free.

How Can You Measure Your Biological Age?

There are various ways you can check to see what you biological age is and some you can even do yourself at home. Let me describe a few simple tests that you can do right now.

Firstly there is the skin elasticity test which measures the health of your skin.    Deterioration of your skin is often one of the first signs of aging.

To do this test simply pinch the skin on the back of your hand between your thumb and index finger for 5 seconds. Let go and then time how long it takes for the skin to flatten out completely. If you are less than 30 it should take less than 1 second; If you are 40 it should take about 2 seconds; If you are 50 it should take about 5 seconds; If you are 60 yrs it should take about 10-12 seconds; if you are 70 yrs it should take about 35-40 seconds.

If your test result is much longer than it should be for your age, it is an indication that your skin elasticity and tone is deteriorating at a faster rate than normal, and that in fact your biological age may be higher than your chronological age.

The next test you can do is called the falling ruler test, which is a test of your reaction time. Slow reaction time is a sign of aging and deterioration of your nervous and muscular systems. To do the test you will need an 18 inch ruler, preferably a wooden one. Then someone hold the ruler at the top (large numbers down), while you place your thumb and index finger about 3 and a half inches apart at the lowest point of the ruler. The person then lets go of the ruler without warning, and you must try to catch the falling ruler between your two fingers as fast as you can. Repeat the test 3 times then take an average of the result.

The average results for a 20 – 30 yr old are the 12 inch mark on the ruler; if you are 40 -50 the average result is the 8 inch mark; if you are 60-70 yrs the average result is the 5 inch mark.

Once again, any variations from these averages will indicate either a lower or high biological age.

Body Age Monitor

A more accurate and detailed way to measure your biological age is to use a specific body age monitor which can instantly measure numerous bodily parameters to give you an accurate and fast reading of exactly what your body age is.

This body age monitor takes a reading of your resting metabolism, which is one parameter that can reflect your actual biological age. Other measurements taken include your total weight, body fat percentage, and skeletal muscle percentage.

I have found that your body fat percentage plays an important role in determining how fast your body is aging in real time. The more body fat you have, the faster you will age, as excess body fat is directly linked to aging and disease (i.e, heart disease, diabetes, cancer, stroke, etc).

In particular it is the amount of fat around your abdomen and around your internal organs which is even more dangerous to your health. This is called your visceral fat, and is also measured using the body age monitor.

Once all these measurements are taken, your body age can be quickly determined.

I add my own assessments to this score as I include factors such as overall body toxicity, nutrition & diet, smoking and alcohol intake, stress and anxiety levels, recent history of serious illness and disease, high blood pressure, and high blood sugar readings. All these factors are additional age stressors on the body and will directly contribute to fast aging and disease.

Once your biological age has been determined, steps can be taken to immediately reduce this. And yes it most certainly can be reduced drastically if you make the necessary changes to your lifestyle and follow the appropriate anti aging advice.

Often you will find that you can change your biological age results in a matter of months, and you can drastically improve your health and well being in the process.

Often by firstly completely detoxing and cleansing your body, changing your diet, commencing an exercise program, removing cigarettes and alcohol from your body, and taking appropriate supplements to help to detoxify and rebuild your body, you will find that you can make a dramatic improvement in your biological age and general health and well-being.

So it is important to know exactly how fast you are aging, as once you know this you can take the appropriate steps to try to slow down you aging rate and halt this process.

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