According to a study in the Archives of Internal Medicine (168:154-158), a sedentary lifestyle won’t just trigger weight gain and predispose you to diseases like type 2 diabetes — it can actually make you age faster.
The study, of over 2,000 twins, found that those who exercised for at least 199 minutes per week were biologically younger than their less active siblings.
Analysing DNA samples from the volunteers, researchers discovered that those who were physically active had telomeres (the DNA sequences that protect chromosomes from damage) that were about the same length as inactive people up to 10 years younger. The researchers concluded that sedentary people are more prone to oxidative stress and inflammation, which both accelerate the ageing process.
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