What your biological age can reveal about your health

Have you ever wondered why some people seem to age faster than others? Well, part of the answer often lies within the difference between the number of years you’ve been alive (your chronological age) and how quickly your body might actually be ageing (your biological age).¹,² 

Your biological age predicts how well your body is holding up on the inside.³ It’s shaped by things like how well your organs function, how quickly your cells are repaired or replaced, and even how healthy your daily habits are.¹,²,⁴ 

But here’s the exciting part: unlike your actual age, your biological age isn’t set in stone.⁵ By understanding it, you can make lifestyle changes to improve your health and wellness, potentially slow ageing, and help you feel your best.⁵

How is biological age determined?

There are several different ways to test biological age, and the research for the best representation of biological age is ongoing. Tests typically focus on factors like:⁶

• Cellular health – How quickly your cells are repaired or replaced.
• Organ function – How well key systems like your heart, lungs, and brain are working.
• Wear and tear – The overall impact of lifestyle, genetics, and environment on your body.

Scientists can use lots of different methods to predict biological age, including:⁶

• DNA methylation – Examining tiny chemical markers on your DNA that change with age.
• Blood marker analysis – Measuring specific molecules and proteins in your blood that change as you age.
• Statistical analysis – Using machine learning to predict biological age based on factors like grip strength, lung capacity, or medical history.

While these methods are valuable in medical settings, some can be expensive, invasive, and not practical for everyday use.

Thankfully, if you're looking for a quick and accessible way to gauge how your lifestyle affects your biological age, you don’t need to visit a lab. You can use a biological age calculator, like the one available on the H&B&Me app.

Rather than relying on invasive testing, this calculator provides instant insights linked to your daily habits—such as sleep, exercise levels, and more—using an advanced algorithm based on 400 million person-years*³⁴ of clinical data.

It's a free, immediate, and accessible way to estimate your biological age and determine whether it's on track, or if it's time to make some changes.

Chronological age vs biological age: What’s the difference?

To give you a concrete example, two people who are both 40 years old might have very different biological ages. One might have the internal health of a 35-year-old, while the other’s body could function more like a 50-year-old. This difference can reveal a lot about how well your body is coping with the ageing process.²

When it comes to health, longevity, and overall wellbeing, your biological age is far more telling than your chronological age.²,⁶,⁷ 

How can you harness your biological age?

Biological age is an incredible tool for self-improvement for two key reasons.

1. It can inspire you to live a healthier lifestyle

Your biological age is only partly down to genetics, and largely shaped by your daily habits.⁷ The food you eat, the exercise you do (or don’t do), your sleep patterns, and even your stress levels may all play a role in how fast your body ages.⁸⁻¹⁰ 

If you calculate your biological age and find it’s higher than expected, it could be a wake-up call that your habits need tweaking. Studies suggest that making lifestyle improvements – like eating a healthy diet such as a mediterranean diet or one based on plants (such as vegetables) foods and exercising regularly – are associated with a lower biological age.⁵,¹¹,¹²

In other words, understanding your biological age turns vague wellness goals into something more tangible. It could give you the motivational boost needed to make small, incremental changes that positively impact your health and wellbeing. 

2. It may help predict your longevity

Biological age may give you an indication of how long you’ll live.¹³ Research suggests that people who have more unhealthy lifestyle behaviours may tend to have shorter life expectancies than those with less unhealthy lifestyle behaviours.¹³ Unhealthy  lifestyle behaviours such as smoking¹⁴,¹⁵ and a lack of exercise are linked with increased biological age.¹⁶,¹⁷,¹⁸

On the other hand, if your biological age is lower than your chronological age, it suggests your body is ageing at a slower-than-expected rate – a great sign for long-term good health and longevity.²

What steps can I take to improve my biological age?

As you’ll probably know by now, your biological age isn’t fixed.¹⁰ Here are some ways you may be able to improve your biological age:

1. Prioritise a healthy, balanced diet

It is well-known that eating a healthy balanced diet is fantastic for overall health, wellness, and feeling your best.¹⁹ So, it shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise to discover that what you eat also plays a role in how quickly your body ages.⁸ 

While there is no magic “age reversal” meal plan, eating a mediterranean or plant-based diet – one rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and nuts – may slow down your biological age.¹¹,¹²

2. Exercise regularly

One of the many benefits of exercise is that it is associated with  slower ageing.⁸,²⁰ Strength training (e.g. weightlifting, resistance bands) helps maintain muscle mass, and has been linked with slower biological ageing,¹⁹ while cardio (e.g. walking, running, cycling) supports heart health,²² and yoga improves balance and may help improve cognitive function as you age.²³,²⁴ 

3. Prioritise quality rest and sleep

Quality sleep is essential for good health, as this is when your body repairs itself, regenerates cells and  may help you feel younger.²⁵,²⁶ Getting enough sleep has been linked with a younger biological age.⁹ 

To sleep better and feel more well-rested, try:

• Sticking to a consistent sleep schedule (yes, even on weekends).²⁷
• Creating a calm bedtime routine by limiting screen time, avoiding caffeine late in the day, and winding down with relaxing activities.²⁷
• Aiming for a consistent amount of sleep every night - most people need 7 to 9 hours.²⁷

4. Manage your stress levels

Your emotional wellness, particularly chronically high stress levels, might age you faster than you think.²⁴ When stress hormones (like cortisol) stay elevated for too long, they contribute to inflammation, high blood pressure (mainly by increasing unhealthy coping mechanisms), and premature cell ageing.¹⁰,²⁸,²⁹

Meditation and mindfulness are a great way to lower stress.³⁰ Spending time in nature is another way to boost your emotional wellbeing.³¹  Exercising, connecting with friends and family, and taking some time out for yourself can all also help with stress.³² 

Calculate biological age with H&B&Me

With H&B&Me, biological age testing is simple and free. Our app-based biological age calculator gives you a quick, science-backed estimate of how you’re ageing on the inside, helping you see how your lifestyle is impacting your health and wellness. 

But our app doesn’t only calculate biological age. Through our subscription-based features, it helps you build better habits so that you can track and improve your score through your lifestyle choices. With H&B&Me, you can:

• Get personalised health and wellbeing insights to see what’s working for you.

• Set goals and track habits to keep you accountable.

• Get science-backed tips on sleep, nutrition, exercise, and emotional wellbeing.

By making small, consistent changes, you can actively aim to slow biological ageing and improve your overall health, wellness, and longevity.⁵,³³ 

So, are you ready to know how old your body really is? Download H&B&Me today, use our free biological age calculator, and subscribe to start building healthier habits towards a longer, happier life.

 

*A ‘person-year’ is a unit calculated by multiplying the number of people in a study by the time each person spends in the study. For example, if there were 1,000 people in a study that lasted two years, the study would have collected 2,000 person-years of data.³⁴ 

 

 

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