Stress can increase your biological age. Here’s how to reverse it

(Victoria Stokes/ Healthline) — Every year, the number of candles on your birthday cake indicates your age. But how old are you really?

Your chronological age is the number of years you have been alive. That one’s easy. Your biological age, on the other hand, is used to decipher how old your body behaves and feels.

It is often used as an indication of overall health and can be influenced by lifestyle factors.

A new study published in the journal Cell Metabolism found that the biological age of humans undergoes a rapid increase in response to diverse forms of stress.

However, it also found this aging can be reversed following a period of recovery from stress.

Commenting on the results, co-senior study author James White of Duke University School of Medicine said, “Previous reports have hinted at the possibility of short-term fluctuations in biological age, but the question of whether such changes are reversible has, until now, remained unexplored.” (…)