The eternal hunt for the elixir of youth goes on, and while Cher may have been singing about turning back the clock to right some wrongs perpetrated against a past romantic partner, the lyric holds true for those wanting to slow the hands of time. There is a fix out there. One that I have written about before. One that slows and can even reverse biological aging, even at the cellular level. And it is a very simple fix.

No… not a hack (long time readers of this missive will know I am not a fan of health ‘hacks’ or ‘biohacking’ or any other thing that promises a quick fix), but a long term solution to help your body stay biologically younger than it is chronologically.

I have quoted longevity expert Dr Peter Attia before, and it is worth revisiting one of his most salient musings: “I now consider exercise to be the most potent longevity “drug” in our arsenal, in terms of lifespan and healthspan. The data are unambiguous: exercise not only delays actual death but also prevents both cognitive and physical decline, better than any other intervention.” In his book, “Outlive. The Science & Art of Longevity”, Dr Attia goes through many, many scientific papers showing how favourably the body responds to exercise, and how exercise seems to slow and in some cases reverse the advance of time on the human body.

And there is more and more data coming out all the time to corroborate the previous science showing this. In one of the latest papers Swiss researchers conducted a 3-year study involving 777 adults aged 70 and older to explore how certain lifestyle interventions affect biological aging. Participants were divided into groups that took either fish oil (1g/day), vitamin D (2,000 IU/day), followed an at-home exercise plan, or a combination of all three. To measure the effects, scientists used four different DNA methylation clocks, which are reliable markers of biological ageing. The results showed that individuals using any of the interventions aged biologically about 3-4 months slower than those who didn’t.

So those are some pretty significant results from participants in their 70s who were doing half an hour of simple bodyweight exercises three times a week. To put this into perspective, a person who is 50 years old chronologically would normally be 53 after three years. But with these interventions, while their chronological age still hits 53, their biological age would be closer to 52 years and 8 months. That’s a four-month reduction in aging at the cellular level. That might not sound too much, but over a decade, this translates to aging about 13 months more slowly than someone not using the interventions. While you might consider that a subtle difference, in the context of aging, disease risk, and long-term vitality, it’s a very meaningful difference.

And there have been many other books written about the positive effects of exercise on ageing, including one that had a profound impact on my life, ‘SPARK!” by Harvard Professor, John Ratey. Others include “The Miracle Pill” by Peter Walker, which looks into hundreds of scientific papers and comes to the conclusion that exercise is crucial to living a long life with a good health span, allowing you to be active, healthy and happy later in life.

The take away message from all of these is something I have said many times. It is never too late to start, but the sooner you begin the “younger” you’ll be. If you would like help starting (or re-starting), or would like some advice on how to make progress, I’d love to hear from you. So please do get in touch, and let’s make you younger. 😃

P.S. I will be releasing a new nutrition and fitness programme, in collaboration with accredited nutritionist, Gemma Westfold, very soon. There will be limited places available for this programme, which will give you nutrition advice and workouts to help you get through the busy summer holidays.