[keenmaster]

Other than being born with the right genes? Moderate exercise, like 30 min. of cardio 3 times a week, may help increase telomere length just as much as marathon running. Omega 3 and most things associated with a good diet also correlate with longer telomeres. A study showed that processed meat (like bologna with nitrate) has a negative effect on telomeres. Go figure.

There is a very strong negative association between chronic stress and telomeres. The worse the stress is and the longer the episode, the more your telomeres are impaired. If a woman is chronically stressed or had low emotional support in childhood, her kids may get shorter telomeres in utero. Social isolation also seems to be terrible for telomere length.

Disclaimer: Telomeres are a relatively new area of interest. Studies showing the above haven’t been replicated enough to be comfortably stated as fact. Of course, telling correlation from causation is difficult.

[curious_one]

You can actually increase your telomeres? Is there a way to get them measured accurately?

[keenmaster]

Yes there are several companies that do this. TeloYears is one. They use a blood sample to index your telomere length (actual length) against other people your age (expected length). One of the outputs is a percentile rank for cellular age. While this can be useful information, there are a couple issues. One is that you can’t reliably predict expected lifespan simply using telomere length. The other is that it is over $100. You already know if you’re healthy and have good genes. I guess it could be used for benchmarking to see whether your telomeres are on the right track.