Is Stress Speeding Up Your Aging? What You Can Do About It Today with Elissa Epel

The One You Feed

Eric Zimmer

Education, Self-improvement, Religion & Spirituality, Health & Fitness, Buddhism, Mental Health

4.6 • 2.5K Ratings

🗓️ 11 July 2025

⏱️ 34 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In this episode, Elissa Epel explores how stress can speed up aging and what you can do about it. She explains telomeres, which are those protective caps on our chromosomes, shorten with stress and poor habits, speeding up aging and disease. She also delves into the science of how thought patterns, diet, and even our response to daily challenges can literally change our biology.

Want to stay intentional in your daily life? Sign up for Good Wolf Reminders—free, thoughtful text messages from Eric that land once or twice a week. Each message offers a quick burst of insight to help you pause, reflect, and feed your good wolf. No spam. Easy to opt out anytime. Join nearly 5,000 others at oneyoufeed.net/sms.Key Takeaways:

The science of telomeres and their role in cellular aging.
The impact of stress and lifestyle choices on telomere length and overall health.
The relationship between genetics and environmental factors in health outcomes.
The concept of “inflammaging” and its connection to chronic inflammation and aging.
The influence of diet on telomere maintenance and inflammation.
The bidirectional relationship between depression and telomere shortening.
Strategies for reframing stress as a challenge rather than a threat.
The importance of mindfulness and social support in managing stress.
The potential risks and benefits of telomerase and its role in telomere health.
The significance of making intentional lifestyle choices to influence aging and well-being.

Elissa Epel, Ph.D. is an international expert on stress, well-being, and optimal aging and a best-selling author of The Telomere Effect, and now The Stress Prescription. She is a Professor in the Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, at The University of California, San Francisco, where she is Vice Chair of Psychology and directs the UCSF Aging Metabolism Emotions Center. She studies how psychosocial and behavioral factors, such as meditation and positive stress, can slow aging and focuses on climate wellness.

Connect with Elissa Epel Website | Instagram | Facebook | X | LinkedIn

If you enjoyed this conversation with Elissa Epel, check out these other episodes:

How to Shift Your Emotions: Moving from Chaos to Clarity with Ethan Kross

Small Steps to Happiness: The Science of Mindful Living with Laurie Santos

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Transcript

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0:00.0	I really like to focus on what we can do now today, and that's all we can control.
0:09.4	Welcome to the one you feed. Throughout time, great thinkers have recognized the importance
0:18.5	of the thoughts we have, quotes, garbage in, garbage out,
0:22.7	or you are what you think, ring true. And yet, for many of us, our thoughts don't strengthen or
0:28.9	empower us. We tend toward negativity, self-pity, jealousy, or fear. We see what we don't have instead of
0:36.5	what we do. We think things that hold us back
0:39.2	and dampen our spirit. But it's not just about thinking. Our actions matter. It takes conscious,
0:45.6	consistent, and creative effort to make a life worth living. This podcast is about how other people
0:51.3	keep themselves moving in the right direction, how they feed their good wolf.
0:58.1	We know stress ages us, but how exactly? Dr. Alyssa Appell has spent years answering that question,
1:06.4	down to the ends of our DNA. Telomeres, which are those protective caps on our chromosomes,
1:13.6	shorten with stress and poor habits, speeding up aging and disease.
1:18.6	But the good news, they're also responsive to the way we live.
1:22.6	Today we'll dig into the science of how thought patterns, diet,
1:26.6	and even our response to daily challenges
1:28.7	can literally change our biology. Her book, The Telemere Effect, offers a roadmap to
1:35.0	healthier, more intentional aging. I'm Eric Zimmer, and this is the one you feed. Hi, Alyssa,
1:42.5	welcome to the show. Thank you so much, Eric.
1:45.0	Your book is called the telemere effect, a revolutionary approach to live in younger,
1:50.9	healthier, and longer.
1:53.1	And it's a fascinating book to me because really a lot of it talks about how the choices
1:58.6	we make emotionally about our thought patterns and our
	...

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