Social Bonds Help Slow Cellular Aging and Support Longevity
Dr. Joseph Mercola - Take Control of Your Health
Briana Mercola
4.6 • 1.5K Ratings
🗓️ 6 November 2025
⏱️ 7 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
- Developing strong, lifelong social bonds helps slow biological aging by influencing how your genes, immune system, and stress hormones function
- People with higher "cumulative social advantage," meaning consistent emotional support throughout life, show younger cellular profiles on aging clocks like GrimAge and DunedinPACE
- Those with rich social connections have lower levels of inflammatory markers such as interleukin-6 (IL-6) and C-reactive protein (CRP), reducing the risk of heart disease, diabetes, and neurodegeneration
- Social isolation not only accelerates aging but also contributes to nutrient deficiencies, with lonely older adults showing lower intake of magnesium, potassium, vitamins B6 and C, and folate
- Rebuilding connection, such as through community, shared meals, and meaningful daily interactions, restores biological balance, lowers inflammation, and supports longer, healthier living
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | When was the last time you shared a real conversation or a meal and felt your shoulders |
| 0:04.5 | dropped because you belong there? |
| 0:06.0 | Welcome to Dr. Mercola's cellular wisdom. Stay informed with quick, easy to listen |
| 0:11.7 | summaries of our latest articles, perfect for when you're on the go. No reading required. |
| 0:16.3 | Subscribe for free at Mercola.com for the latest health insights. |
| 0:20.4 | Hello and welcome to Dr. Mercola's cellular wisdom. |
| 0:23.6 | Today we're looking at how lifelong social bonds may slow biological aging |
| 0:27.6 | by reshaping how your genes, immune system, and stress pathways behave. |
| 0:33.6 | I'm Ethan Foster, and we'll walk through what the research shows, why inflammation matters, |
| 0:39.4 | and what steps you can take to rebuild connection in practical ways. |
| 0:43.5 | I'm Alara Sky. The study we're discussing analyzed 2,117 adults drawn from the long-running midlife |
| 0:50.2 | in the United States project. The average participant was 55, and the group included both |
| 0:56.2 | healthy adults and people living with chronic conditions. Researchers tracked cumulative social |
| 1:02.4 | advantage, or CSA, which reflects how supported you felt over your life from family, community, |
| 1:09.4 | faith involvement, and ongoing emotional support. |
| 1:13.0 | The team then compared CSA against measures of biological aging using epigenetic clocks, |
| 1:19.1 | specifically Grimmage and Dunedin Bayacee, derived from blood and urine samples. |
| 1:24.5 | Those with stronger, steadier social networks registered younger profiles on both |
| 1:28.9 | clocks, indicating a slower pace of cellular aging. The pattern suggests your biology |
| 1:34.4 | integrates decades of experience, not just your current social calendar. Another layer here is |
| 1:40.1 | inflammation. Researchers measured eight biomarkers, including interleukin-6 and C-reactive protein, |
| 1:47.7 | both linked to heart disease, diabetes, depression, and neurodegeneration when elevated. |
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