HOLD BACK THE CLOCK

SECRETS of staying young. this week: Don’t binge on box sets WOMEN who spend more than ten hours a day sitting have shorter telomeres (the protective ends on DNA) akin to those of women eight years older, a U.S. study found.

When telomeres become short, our cells die faster. The good news is that exercising for at least 30 minutes a day — even if you spend the rest of the day sitting — cancels out the negative effect, says lead researcher Dr Aladdin Shadyab, an epidemiologist at the University of California, San Diego. Another tip is to go out at least once a day. A 2017 study, published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, found that people over 70 who left the house at least once a day were more likely to live to 85 than those who didn’t. This benefit was also seen in those who weren’t independently mobile, suggesting that it’s not exercise but social interaction and engagement with the world that’s key.