An evaluation of biological age clocks

An Inside Longevity™ exclusive: A novel database of age clocks, and the strategies for growing younger at the cellular level, to reduce the risk of dementia and stroke.

A compilation of age clocks, and their mechanisms and accuracy.

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I recently came across a study in the journal Aging that showed how a strict but achievable two-month dietary and lifestyle regimen lowered the biological ages of its participants by an average of 4.6 years. Other studies have shown similar findings, but what made this study different is that its subjects were all healthy women 46 to 65 years old.

Also notable is that the study’s dietary requirements to reverse biological aging were not draconian, not vegan and not even vegetarian. More on the specifics below.

What is biological age and why does it matter?

Biological age refers to how old your cells are and can differ significantly from your chronological age, which is simply how many years you’ve lived. Having a lower biological age means your body is aging slower than someone of your chronological age. You’ll often hear this referred to as “reversing the aging process,” because many studies have shown how diet and lifestyle changes over the course of several weeks can reverse your aging clock by several years. A lower biological age has a huge positive impact on your ability to avoid chronic physical and cognitive disease¹, some form of which now afflicts a majority of American adults.

You don’t need to be vegan, vegetarian or a biohacker to slow aging

That’s why this 2023 study, led by Dr. Kara Fitzgerald (read about my subsequent interview with her in this follow-up post), struck me as a longevity treasure map for women and men who want the undeniable benefits of maintaining a younger biological self but who also want to live and eat like a relatively normal human, and not like a self-obsessed biohacker with $1,000 worth of supplements in the cupboard and an 18-year-old blood boy on speed dial.

To the contrary, the daily regimen that Dr. Fitzgerald’s study required its participants to complete seemed achievable by many everyday people, in terms of required time and expense — though it does mean eating a lot of certain kinds of vegetables, eating liver (or liver supplement) and taking two other supplements and exercising daily.

The daily regimen that reversed biological age in 2 months

(See the full program below). Each day, you’ll need to eat lots and lots of dark leafy greens (sadly, the Spring Mix I usually buy doesn’t count).