If you’ve been following the NOVOS Flow blog for a while, you’ve probably come across the word “inflammaging.” As we get older, many of us develop a low, persistent level of inflammation that never fully switches off, and researchers think it ties together a lot of what we call aging.
Here’s a clear, science-backed look at what chronic inflammation in aging is, why it rises, what drives it, and how lifestyle influences it — plus how targeted supplements like NOVOS Core can help with living healthier for longer.
Quick Overview
- Inflammaging is chronic, low-grade, “sterile” inflammation that tends to rise with age, even without an active infection.
- Overlapping processes drive inflammaging: aging immune cells, “zombie” senescent cells, gut changes, and stressed mitochondria.
- In 2023, chronic inflammation was added to the updated hallmarks of aging.
- Diet, exercise, sleep, stress, and body composition all influence it.
What Is Inflammaging?
Inflammation itself isn’t the enemy. It’s how your body fights infections and heals injuries. The problem is when it never turns off.
Inflammaging is the term scientists use for the chronic, sterile, low-grade inflammation that develops with age, without an obvious infection. “Sterile” means no germ is causing it; “low-grade” means it’s subtle, not the swelling you’d notice from a cut. Indicators include elevated inflammatory markers like IL-6, TNF-alpha, and C-reactive protein (CRP) in the blood.
How Chronic Inflammation Changes With Age
When you’re young, your body keeps inflammation in balance: It ramps up when needed and resolves quickly. With age, that balance gradually tips toward the pro-inflammatory side. The immune system becomes less precise, damaged cells accumulate and send out distress signals, and the body’s “off switches” for inflammation work less well.
Inflammaging isn’t just a side effect of getting older. Higher inflammation in later life is a marker of biological aging, linked to multimorbidity and mortality risk. Notably, healthy older adults, including centenarians, tend to show lower levels of inflammation.
What Drives Chronic Inflammation in Aging
There’s no single cause. Inflammaging is the sum of several overlapping processes that feed into one another.
Cellular Senescence and the SASP
As cells age or undergo damage, some stop dividing but refuse to die. These senescent cells, nicknamed “zombie cells,” linger in tissues and pump out inflammatory molecules known as the senescence-associated secretory phenotype, or SASP. They accumulate with age as the immune system gets less efficient at clearing them. Their signals can push neighboring cells toward senescence, too, creating a feedback loop.
Immune Aging and Innate Immune Activation
The immune system changes with age, a process called immunosenescence, and the innate immune system (your fast, first-line defense) can become chronically overstimulated. Over a lifetime, the body also accumulates cellular debris and “misplaced” molecules that the immune system treats as danger signals, even in the absence of infection. Learn more in our overview of the immune system and aging.
Gut, Mitochondria, and Metabolic Factors
With age, the gut microbiome can shift toward a less favorable mix of bacteria (dysbiosis). The gut barrier can become leakier, letting bacteria enter the bloodstream and trigger inflammation. Damaged mitochondria, the cell’s power plants, can also release cellular debris that the body reads as danger signals. Excess body fat, especially around the organs, adds another source of inflammatory signaling.
Chronic Inflammation and the Hallmarks of Aging
As a recognized hallmark of aging, chronic inflammation doesn’t sit in isolation. It interacts with the other hallmarks as both cause and consequence: Senescence feeds inflammation, and inflammation drives more senescence.
Chronic Inflammation and Age-Related Health
Persistent low-grade inflammation is associated with the development and progression of many age-related conditions, including cardiovascular, metabolic, and neurodegenerative disorders. A 2025 review describes how the inflammatory signals released by senescent cells help sustain this state and, over time, contribute to that decline.Â
To be precise: inflammaging is associated with these conditions and considered a contributing factor, not a direct cause of any one disease.
Lifestyle Factors That Influence Chronic Inflammation
The encouraging news is that inflammation is one of the more modifiable aspects of aging.
Diet and Body Composition
A Western-style diet high in processed foods, refined sugar, and unhealthy fats is a powerful trigger of inflammation. By contrast, the Mediterranean pattern, rich in vegetables, fruit, legumes, whole grains, nuts, olive oil, and fish, is associated with lower CRP and IL-6, partly by supporting a healthier gut microbiome. (See our best diet for longevity.) Carrying excess body fat, particularly visceral fat, also tends to raise inflammatory signaling.
Exercise, Sleep, and Stress
A meta-analysis of 40 studies in older adults found that exercise training reduced IL-6, TNF-alpha, and CRP, with aerobic, resistance, and combined training each helping. The effects are modest but consistent. Poor sleep and chronic stress both nudge the body toward a more inflammatory state, while good sleep and stress management support normal immune regulation. Our list of 60 tips to live longer covers many of these habits.
Limitations of the Current Evidence
Inflammaging is a useful framework. However, not all inflammation is harmful, and much of the damaging kind may have to do how we live, which is also where the opportunity lies.
That’s the thinking behind NOVOS Core, a daily formulation designed to support all 12 hallmarks of aging at once, including inflammation. Paired with a good diet, regular movement, solid sleep, and other longevity supplements like NOVOS Vital and NOVOS Boost, it’s a simple way to support healthy aging and complement, not replace, healthy habits.
FAQ About Chronic Inflammation
What is inflammaging?
It’s chronic, low-grade, “sterile” inflammation that develops with age without an active infection. It appears as elevated markers like IL-6, TNF-alpha, and CRP in the blood.
Why does inflammation increase with age?
Several changes overlap, including aging immune cells, a buildup of senescent “zombie” cells, gut changes, and damaged mitochondria. At the same time, the body resolves inflammation less effectively.
Is chronic inflammation a hallmark of aging?
Yes. In 2023, researchers added chronic inflammation to the updated hallmarks of aging, bringing the total to 12. It’s considered both a cause and a consequence of other aging processes.
What are the main causes of chronic inflammation in older adults?
Leading contributors include cellular senescence and its SASP secretions, an aging and overactive innate immune system, gut dysbiosis, damaged mitochondria, and excess body fat. Lifestyle layers on top of these.
Is it possible to measure chronic inflammation?Â
To an extent. Doctors and researchers commonly measure markers like CRP, IL-6, and TNF-alpha in the blood. These give a general sense of inflammatory activity, although no single marker captures the full picture.
Is reducing inflammation associated with healthier aging?
Lower inflammation is associated with healthier aging, and long-lived people tend to have lower inflammatory markers. That said, it’s an association, and context matters.
What foods can help with inflammation?Â
Diets rich in vegetables, fruit, legumes, whole grains, nuts, olive oil, and fish, like the Mediterranean pattern, are associated with lower inflammatory markers. Heavily processed foods, refined sugar, and excess unhealthy fats are linked to higher inflammation.
How does exercise affect chronic inflammation?
Regular exercise is associated with reduced IL-6, TNF-alpha, and CRP, particularly in older adults. Aerobic, resistance, and combined training all appear to provide modest but consistent benefits.
