There’s no escaping ageing – and nor should we feel pressure to look like we’ve escaped it. But looking much older or younger than your biological age isn’t all down to genetics.
Lifestyle can really make a difference to how old you feel and look. Dr Noel Young, clinical innovations associate for the at-home blood testing company Thriva (thriva.co), says: “While our life expectancy may be increasing, our healthspans – our time spent in good health – still remains much lower than expected.
“Chronic diseases, like heart disease and diabetes, which are driven in the majority of cases by lifestyle, are very common and are associated with faster ageing.”
Young points out that “these conditions are linked to shorter telomeres” (structures that cap the end of our chromosomes and protect them from damage) but adds: “The good news is adopting certain lifestyle changes can help prevent chronic diseases and the faster ageing that accompanies them.”
Here are the 11 lifestyle choices that may make you age faster.