Aspire to a longer life? Strong heart health and slower biological aging are linked, according to recent research, and you can achieve this by taking specific actions.
Based on an analysis of 6,500 adult participants from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey conducted between 2015 and 2018, it was discovered that having good cardiovascular health may slow down the rate of biological aging. The study found that adults in good cardiovascular health were approximately 6 years younger than they were when they were born.
"We discovered that, as indicated by phenotypic age, improved cardiovascular health is linked to slower biological aging. According to a press release from the American Heart Association, study senior author Nour Makarem, an assistant professor of epidemiology at the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University Irving Medical Center in New York, stated, "We also found a dose-dependent association — as heart health goes up, biological aging goes down." "Phenotypic age is a practical tool to assess our body's biological aging process and a strong predictor of future risk of disease and death."
Conversely, it was also true that those with worse heart health had higher phenotypic ages, indicating that they were biologically "older" than anticipated.
"For example, the average actual age of those with high cardiovascular health was 41, yet their average biological age was 36; and the average actual age of those who had low cardiovascular health was 53, though their average biological age was 57," according to the release.
The "Life's Essential 8" checklist from the American Heart Association, which is a list of lifestyle behaviors, was used in the analysis to assess each person's heart health. There are eight steps:
- Eating better
- Being more active
- Quitting tobacco
- Getting healthy sleep
- Managing weight
- Controlling cholesterol
- Managing blood sugar
- Managing blood pressure