If you stand up right now, you'll be extending your life. Scientists have discovered that sitting down not only causes all kinds of health problems, but it might actually also make you age quicker.
"Our study found cells age faster with a sedentary lifestyle. Chronological age doesn’t always match biological age," writes lead author Aladdin Shadyab of the UC San Diego School of Medicine in a release.
Our DNA has protective caps at its ends called telomeres. These caps deteriorate, like so much else, with age, and their decline can be accelerated by activities like smoking, or being overweight. But now Shadyab and his team have linked telomere decline with a lack of physical activity. In short, if you sit all day, then your cells will age much faster than if you are active. Your body, at the cellular level, may be older than you think.