How young is your face?. According to a 2009 study, if you look young, you may also be biologically younger than your age. In a study of nearly 1,000 pairs of twins, older “perceived facial age” was found to be an accurate predictor of which twin would die first.
At the same time, makeup, Botox, and fillers do not affect the deep biology of skin aging. A much more promising approach is to protect your skin from the sun. This reduces wrinkles and reduces the risk of cancer, keeping the skin biologically youthful.
Standing on one leg. As we age, our balance deteriorates. Therefore, it is very easy to determine your biological age by how long you can stand on one leg. To try this at home, cross your arms, stand on your dominant foot (the one you would kick a soccer ball with) and time it. You cannot straighten your arms or move one of your legs. If you manage to hold for 45 seconds, then your biological age is 18-39 years, if 41 seconds – 40-49 years. To make it more difficult, you can close your eyes. But then your maximum should be 15 seconds.
Fitness. The most popular measure of biological age these days is VO2 max, which is the maximum amount of oxygen your body can consume when exercising at your maximum capacity. This test can be taken in a special laboratory. Many wearable devices can also measure this metric.
VO2 max almost halves with age, from 42 ml/kg/minute for the average woman in her 20s to just 21 ml/kg/minute for a woman in her 80s. To improve this result, you need to exercise. Research demonstrates that a 65-year-old who exercises to rank in the top 25 percent of his age group can have a VO2 max equivalent to the average 30-year-old.
