Human aging is not quite the gradual process we once believed. Research has found that the two critical points of aging in life come around the ages of 44 and 60, at which points we experience drastic declines. However, aging can be slowed by modifying diet and lifestyle.
Periods of ‘Dramatic Change’
Published in August 2024, a study in Nature Aging collected over 5,000 blood, stool, skin swabs, and oral health samples from 108 U.S. volunteers aged 25 to 75 from different ethnic backgrounds. From the samples, researchers obtained over 135,000 biological features, generating nearly 250 billion data points. The analysis found that the biomolecular markers related to aging exhibited nonlinear changes, and profound changes occurred in two major periods: around age 44 and age 60.“We’re not just changing gradually over time; there are some really dramatic changes,” senior study author Michael Snyder, a genetics professor at Stanford University, said in a statement. “It turns out the mid-40s are a time of dramatic change, as [are] the early 60s. And that’s true no matter what class of molecules you look at.”
