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Observational studies show that exercise, nutritional supplements and reducing psychological stress can help. Chronic high stress and smoking can lead to accelerated telomere shortening.

Exercise helps me with stress. It changes your brain chemistry. I turn to Ashtanga yoga when I feel the need to relax. I love it, but it's not right for everybody. It's taught to you a little bit at a time, according to your body type and your strength. That keeps things challenging.

In my lab, we're finding that psychological stress actually ages cells, which can be seen when you measure the wearing down of the tips of the chromosomes, those telomeres.

With all that's going on in our lives and the world, reducing stress is important, and it's a factor in heart health.

We think there are lifestyle factors that boost telomerase naturally.

Exercise keeps me occupied, which is good for my mental health.

I like to meditate. But I get rid of my stress at the gym.

We know that people who are born with shorter telomeres than normal also have a shorter lifespan. We know that shorter telomeres can cause a shorter lifespan.

It will be useful for you to know your biological age and maybe to change your lifestyle habits if you find you have short telomeres.

The thing we don't want to do is overstate the benefits, but there is all kinds of proof that exercise, both physical and mental, increases brain activity.