Get more active. Being less active can make you age faster as the key pieces of DNA called telomeres shorten more quickly than in active people.

As we get older, the telomeres (repeat sequences of DNA that sit on the ends of chromosomes, protecting them from damage) get shorter, and their deterioration is associated with the physical signs of middle and old age. A research study conducted on twins at King's College London and published in Archives of Internal Medicine found that in inactive people the telomeres shortened more quickly than in active people. The faster is the rate of shortening, the faster is your ageing process. The researchers found that the most active people had telomeres of a length comparable to those found in inactive people who were up to 10 years' younger, on average.