Epigenetic Clock: A Biomarker for Biological Aging

We’ve been looking for ways to reverse the hands of time since the dawn of time. Methods of staying young have largely failed (we’re looking at you, Fountain of Youth), but now, we have volumes of research about how our bodies age and why.

This research can help us better understand aging from a biological standpoint and help us learn new ways to approach aging to support our longevity and healthspan. One tool that researchers studying aging use to determine our biological ages is the epigenetic clock. 

We’ll talk about what it is and what information it can provide us. First, let’s talk about how the body ages. 

Understanding Aging

Aging happens in two ways: chronologically and biologically. Chronological aging happens because you turn a year older every time you have a birthday. Biological aging happens due to changes in your cells that cause them to lose function, wear out, and simply malfunction. 

Biological changes in the cells can either slow your biological age or accelerate it. Scientists have identified 12 hallmarks of aging that occur primarily within our cells and cause the aging process of our bodies to happen faster. 

These “12 Hallmarks of Aging” can occur due to illness or injury, but many happen gradually due to life choices, dietary choices, and sedentary lifestyles. 

Epigenetic Clock

Now that we know there are 12 ways our cells are progressively aging, we want to be able to determine the actual age of our cells. The epigenetic clock is a tool that healthcare providers and researchers can use to determine our biological age. 

Hovarth’s Clock and IntrinClock

There are several different types of epigenetic clocks. These clocks are essentially biological age predictors. 

Two of the most famous are Horvath’s Clock and IntrinClock. 

• Horvath’s Clock. Developed by Dr. Steve Horvath, this clock uses 353 DNA methylation markers to predict age. This clock is considered very reliable in helping determine biological age and has also been used in cancer research. 

• IntrinClock. This clock is newer than Horvath’s Clock and was designed to give a more accurate prediction of biological age by being resistant to certain changes in immune cells. This resistance gives it the ability to better predict biological age. 

Using an epigenetic clock starts with DNA methylation.

DNA Methylation

One way our cells age is when our DNA changes or is modified. These changes do not affect our genetic code, but rather change the way our cells behave when the code is copied to a new cell. This process happens over time and accelerates the aging process. 

The first step in using an epigenetic clock is testing pieces of DNA to see how many changes have been made. The process of DNA methylation is used to determine changes that have been made. During the process, methyl groups are added to pieces of DNA that effectively turn genes on and off. Researchers can then determine how the DNA has changed.

DNA methylation requires a blood test, which is then sent to a laboratory for testing. Once the test result is complete, the information can be entered into an epigenetic clock to determine a person’s biological age. 

How Epigenetic Clocks Are Used as Biomarkers

Once you have the information provided by an epigenetic clock, there are multiple ways to use it. Not only can a person’s biological age be determined, but it can be useful for other markers as well. 

Disease Risk Assessment

The biological age of a person’s cells is a good indicator of their level of disease risk. For instance, a person whose biological age is higher may be at greater risk of developing certain metabolic illnesses. With this information, it may be possible for interventions to be made to help the person reduce their risk of illness.

Mortality Risk

People who have an epigenetic age that is higher than their chronological age have a higher mortality risk than people whose epigenetic age is at or lower than their chronological age. They are also at higher risk for age-related illness. Knowing a person’s epigenetic age can help improve their longevity if they can arrest their biological aging. 

Healthspan Assessment

A person’s healthspan refers to the length of time they can live healthfully. For many, age-related illness debilitates them and causes them to live out the final decades of their lives unable to enjoy life as they’d like to. Understanding biological age can help a person engage in activities that can help improve their healthspan. 

How To Improve Your Biological Age

Your biological age can be manipulated through lifestyle changes and methods that are scientifically proven to reduce or reverse cellular aging. Making just one change can improve your ability to live a longer, healthier life. 

1. Eat a healthy diet. 

Diet impacts cellular health. Eating a healthy, balanced diet ensures your cells receive the nutrients they need. Avoiding highly processed foods, excess sugar, and trans fats can help support a healthy weight, which also plays a role in reducing your risk of age-related metabolic illness. 

2. Stay active. 

A sedentary lifestyle is associated with metabolic illness and harms overall health. Aim for 30 minutes of heart-pumping exercise each day. Incorporating strength or resistance training with your routine also helps protect your bone health as you age. 

3. Get adequate sleep. 

Not getting enough sleep can lead to accelerated aging. Sleeping less than six hours each night was associated with higher biological age and an increased mortality risk. Even sleeping more than six hours, but having that sleep routinely interrupted, contributed to a higher biological age. 

4. Manage Stress

Stress can be a healthy part of life (think short-term stress that helps you complete a project). Long-term, unmanaged stress can lead to detrimental health impacts. Stress causes the release of adrenaline and cortisol, leading to low-level inflammation in the body. Managing stress can reduce a person’s risk of developing cardiovascular disease as well. 

5. Take a supplement. 

In addition to the above suggestions, taking a cellular supportive supplement is a great way to support your cells and give yourself a fighting chance against aging. One supplement, fatty15, is research-backed by over 100 studies that support its ability to slow and even reverse the aging process in your cells, giving you the ability to reverse your biological age with just one simple capsule per day. 

Understanding Fatty15

Fatty15 is a once-per-day supplement that contains the sustainable, vegan-friendly version of pentadecanoic acid, or C15:0 for short. This fatty acid was recently discovered by a team of doctors and scientists from the US Navy studying healthy aging and longevity in bottlenose dolphins. 

Dolphins with higher levels of C15:0 in their diets had a reduced risk of age-related illness compared to populations whose circulating levels of this fatty acid were lower. They took their research further and discovered that the same health benefits were available to humans, too. 

How It Works

C15:0 works by integrating into and strengthening our cells, targeting the processes that cause cells to age too quickly. It does this by:

• Strengthening cell membranes by up to 80%, even after they’ve experienced age-related breakdown. As we age, cell membranes wear out, leaving our cells vulnerable and unable to maintain their function because they cannot maintain their shape. C15:0 integrates into cell membranes to strengthen them.

• Rescuing mitochondria. The mitochondria in our cells wear out and slow down with age. They produce less ATP (energy) and more ROS (free radicals). Fatty15 restores mitochondrial function by amping up their energy production and reducing ROS output. In one study, C15:0 improved ATP levels by 350%. Improved mitochondrial function means improved cellular function and more energy throughout the cell.

• Activating PPARɑ and PPARẟ receptors. By activating these receptors, C15:0 has been shown in peer-reviewed studies to support metabolic, immune, heart, and liver health. These receptors also help to improve mood and deepen sleep.

• Restoring homeostasis. C15:0 helps restore homeostasis by activating AMPK, which plays a role in glucose uptake and immunity.

C15:0 has been shown to significantly calm overactive immune systems and lower proinflammatory cytokines, key drivers of aging. By activating AMPK, C15:0 effectively clears away senescent cells and helps regulate immune response. Additionally, C15:0 lowers ‘bad’ LDL cholesterol, improves liver enzymes, and improves the gut microbiome. 

C15:0 is so important for our bodies that not getting enough of it causes a deficiency known as Cellular Fragility Syndrome. Cellular Fragility Syndrome underlies numerous metabolic illnesses and is closely associated with ferroptosis, a particular type of cell death that, until now, had no known etiology. 

Fixing Cellular Fragility Syndrome

A recent publication in the Journal Metabolites provided evidence that explains how nutritional C15:0 deficiencies cause cellular fragility and ferroptosis. 

Most people today have C15:0 levels lower than 0.2% of total fatty acids. While studies support that people need to maintain circulating C15:0 levels between 0.2% and 0.4% to protect against Cellular Fragility Syndrome, there is evidence that higher C15:0 levels can further support longevity and long-term heart health. 

Interestingly, people living in Blue Zones, areas of the world where residents consistently live to be over 100 years of age, have C15:0 levels that are much higher than the global average. Their levels typically range around 0.6% of their total fatty acid count. 

Interested in testing your C15:0 levels? Click here for an easy-to-use, at-home test. Once you know your levels, you can fix them.

You can raise your C15:0 level through diet and through supplementation with a pure C15:0 supplement. However, obtaining enough of it through diet alone is difficult because C15:0 is primarily found in trace amounts in full-fat dairy products like whole milk and full-fat butter. 

Increasing your intake of these foods wouldn’t be the best way to increase your C15:0 for several reasons:

• Absorption. In milk (and other foods), C15:0 is attached to branches of lipids called triacylglycerides, aka triglycerides. That means our gut has to use digestive enzymes to break down these triacylglycerides to release C15:0 as a free fatty acid. Once C15:0 is released, it is ready to be absorbed. These multiple steps can make our absorption of C15:0 from foods less efficient.
  
  
• “Bad” fats. While the good C15:0 fatty acid is present in whole-fat dairy products in trace levels, there are much higher levels of 'bad' even-chain, proinflammatory saturated fatty acids that continue to be associated with poorer health. That is probably why studies evaluating the effects of milk on our health are mixed (some say dairy fat is bad for us, while others say it is good for us).
  
  
• Cows and calories. Whole-fat dairy products provide a wallop of calories, including sugars (aka lactose), that also require cows. The calories in whole-fat milk likely explain why a recent study showed that adults who drink more cow milk are more likely to have a higher body weight. Further, the movement to more plant-based milk and meat replacements is driven by a desire for more animal-free products, as well as a desire to veer from cows and cattle because of concerns around methane production. Interestingly, plant-based milk replacements lack C15:0 altogether. 

A solution? Fatty15.

Fatty15 gives you the beneficial C15:0 you need with just one calorie per dose, is vegan-friendly, ready to absorb, requires only one small capsule per day, and contains nothing else. It’s one of the smartest decisions you can make to protect your cells and invest in your long-term health.

Guess Your Age

Your calendar age may be continuing to climb, but you can make that climb more enjoyable by slowing your biological age. Using an epigenetic clock can help you know your biological age, but you don’t need to know your biological age to begin to take steps to reverse it. 

Taking fatty15 can help strengthen your cells, slow down your biological aging and contribute to a longer, healthier life. 

Sources:

Efficacy of dietary odd-chain saturated fatty acid pentadecanoic acid parallels broad associated health benefits in humans: could it be essential? | Scientific Reports

A review of odd-chain fatty acid metabolism and the role of pentadecanoic Acid (c15:0) and heptadecanoic Acid (c17:0) in health and disease | PubMed

Hallmarks of aging: An expanding universe | PubMed

Effect of an Asian-adapted Mediterranean diet and pentadecanoic acid on fatty liver disease: the TANGO randomized controlled trial | ScienceDirect

Pentadecanoic Acid (C15:0), an Essential Fatty Acid, Shares Clinically Relevant Cell-Based Activities with Leading Longevity-Enhancing Compounds

Short Sleep and Insomnia Are Associated With Accelerated Epigenetic Age | PubMed

Resources | Discoverc15

The Cellular Stability Hypothesis: Evidence of Ferroptosis and Accelerated Aging-Associated Diseases as Newly Identified Nutritional Pentadecanoic Acid (C15:0) Deficiency Syndrome