Hello there, I'm Monica Reinagle and you're listening to the Nutrition Diva podcast.

Happy New Year to you and just in time for all of those New Year's resolutions you probably

made, I'm here today with proof that healthy habits can help turn back the biological

clock.

Some of the benefits of eating healthy and exercising are apparent right away.

In a matter of just a few weeks, we can see and feel the difference in our bodies.

We might see a difference on the scale or in how our clothes fit, or we might notice that

we're less winded after going up the steps or schlepping a big load of groceries.

We may even perceive positive changes in our mood and our energy levels.

And of course, we also hope that these good habits are going to deliver long-term benefits

as well, delaying or preventing the onset of disease or disability as we age.

Those benefits, however, can be a little bit harder to measure.

But scientists learn more about the aging process.

They've developed new ways to measure and quantify our biological age, as opposed

to our chronological or our calendar age, and these markers can be used to assess the

effects of various anti-aging interventions.

One of the ways scientists measure biological age is a blood test that measures the epigenetic

mutation load, or EML.

Now although the genes that you're born with do affect your risk of certain diseases,

your environment and your lifestyle play a big role in how those genes express themselves

over the course of your lifetime, or whether or not certain genes are switched on or off.

These epigenetic changes are triggered by environmental factors like smoking, air pollution,

...