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By Lynn C. Allison From Newsmax

While your chronological age is measured by the years you have lived, your biological age is determined by your DNA and how well you are weathering those years.

According to The Washington Post, you may be 50 based on your calendar years, but you could have a biological anywhere from 25 to 75 years of age, according to studies, depending on what shape you are in. By using a simple online tool or similar exercise, you can determine your biological age.

Special: New Aging Research Reveals Key to Long, Healthy Life

The good news is that studies on identical twins and gigantic databases of family trees show that somewhere between 75% and 95% of our lifespan boils down to lifestyle and luck, and is largely within our control, says BBC’s Science Focus Magazine.

Here are proven ways to stop age-related decline:

• Maintain muscle. Current exercise recommendations advise getting 150 minutes of moderate activity such as brisk walking or 75 minutes of vigorous activity weekly. But strength training should be part of this fitness package to preserve our muscles and bone density. Having more muscle helps regulate blood sugar levels after meals. According to CNN, experts recommend adults do muscle-strengthening activities two or more days each week, working all major muscle groups at moderate or greater intensity. Unfortunately, only about 30% of Americans meet this recommendation, and nearly 60% say they do no strength training at all.

• Ignore fad diets. The big picture in nutrition is that most people benefit from eating less red meat and more plant-based foods. This is based on years of observational studies of people who live the longest and the healthiest. While calorie restriction and fasting have made headlines in terms of weight loss, the science is ambiguous, and these eating patterns may result in muscle loss, which may well be a net negative for your biological age.

• Brush your teeth. Studies have shown that people with less tooth decay and gum disease seem to have fewer heart attacks than those with poor oral health, says Science Focus Magazine.

• Get sufficient sleep. Studies show that the sweet spot for sleep is about 7 to 8 hours nightly. But getting too much sleep can be as detrimental to your health as getting too little. Regularly getting more than nine hours of sleep is associated with a higher risk of death than getting as little as four hours.

• Wear sunglasses. There is evidence that UV light damages the light-sensitive cells on the back of the eye, accelerating age-related macular degeneration (AMD). UV light also causes clouding of the lens of the eye, leading to cataracts. Both cataracts and AMD increase the risk of dementia. So, protecting your eyes by wearing sunglasses could reduce this risk.

• Always wear sunscreen. While protecting your eyes is critical, taking care of your skin helps prevent skin cancer and skin aging. Ultraviolet light damages collagen and other structural proteins that make our skin strong yet supple, leading to wrinkles. The damage to our DNA caused by UV light means that almost all our skin cells are mutated by the time we reach our 50s. Apply sunscreen, preferably one deemed safe by the Environmental Working Group’s annual Guide to Sunscreens. They contain the mineral-based active ingredients zinc oxide, titanium dioxide or both, which have fewer health concerns and offer good sun protection. Zinc oxide, especially, provides good broad-spectrum protection and protection from both UVA and UVB rays, and it is stable in the sun.

• Wash your hands. We learned during the pandemic that washing our hands for 20 seconds with soap and water helps reduce the risk of infection. In addition, the human papillomavirus (HPV) is the leading cause of cervical cancer. Since infectious diseases can lead to other health problems later in life, hand washing should be an essential part of our anti-aging and health routine.

• Prepare for super drugs. There are many be game-changing anti-aging therapies in the works, such as senolytic drugs that remove misbehaving or dead cells that accumulate as we get older, allowing new cells to regenerate, delaying the aging process. There have been studies showing that these drugs, along with the diabetes drug, metformin, can target certain hallmarks of aging for the prevention of age-related diseases.

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