An old saying goes “We get old too soon and wise too late”. The truth is that if you apply a little wisdom now, it may keep you aging before your time. One fine day we all have to go through the process of ageing but your health still remains in your hands. 

According to Jonny Bowden, a renowned nutritionist, only 5 to 20% of the aging process has to do with your genes. The rest has to do with how you treat your body. It is like turning on the right switch to turn the good genes on and bad genes off. In this article, learn about the top four horsemen of ageing and how conquering these, you can slow down the aging process and prevent every degenerative disease known to mankind.

Factors that Speed up Ageing

  1. Environmental Toxins and Free Radicals

Just like the way rust affects a car, free radicals can attack your cells and damage your DNA. This is a process that many experts believe can accelerate ageing and cause diseases like Cancer. Unfortunately, you cannot avoid these molecules all-together, but you can certainly limit your exposure.

By staying away from cigarettes, alcohol, processed food, excess sun exposure, treated meats, pesticide-laden foods, genetically-modified foods you can stay away from these harmful molecules. You can also include antioxidants in your diet to raid these free radicals and encourage your liver to detox naturally.

  1. Inflammation

Your immune system’s innate response to foreign invaders, inflammation is considered to be another major factor of aging. The problem is when it becomes chronic and your immune system starts attacking your healthy cells.

You can keep inflammation at bay by following a healthy diet rich in whole grains, healthy fats, high fiber, and natural vegetables. Studies have shown that heart patients who follow a low-inflammatory diet can prevent heart attacks.

Exercise is another way to boost anti-inflammatory properties and keep you physically fit. Having too much belly fat especially a waistline above 34 for women and above 40 for men is an indicator that you may have high inflammation since abdominal muscles produce inflammatory chemicals. The trick is to get the right kind of exercise for your body every day without overdoing it.

  1. Glycation

A fancy word for too much sugar, glycation is a process when the sugar mixes with proteins and fats to form molecules that speed up aging. Advanced glycation end products or AGEs literally contribute to aging by churning free radicals and also promoting inflammation.

They typically form with the browning effect that happens when you stir fry vegetables, blacken meat, carmalize onions and also add sugar to this mix. Limiting your intake of sugar will also help so that they don’t cling on to the proteins in your body to form AGE.

It is important to slow-cook your veggies without adding sugars and browning them too much. AGEs play a huge role in heart diseases and diabetes and also hamper blood flow causing it to become too sticky. It’s almost like putting sugar in your gas tank and gumming it up.


  1. Stress

Another villain for all and a top cause of all diseases, being under chronic stress releases too much stress hormones like Cortisol which consequently leads to multiple health hazards. It’s good to maintain the right levels of cortisol, however, when it remains chronically elevated, it can lead to insulin resistance and weight gain.

Practice relaxation techniques like meditation and Yoga to manage your stress. Also, ensure to get a good night’s sleep to remain stress-free. The important thing is to find the best medium that works for you to unwind and relax after a busy day.

Finally, it is your environment and lifestyle choices that deeply influence the ageing process. Therefore a healthy lifestyle is a precursor for longevity and wellbeing.