NOVOS Age

Two general categories of biological age tests exist:

• Tests that measure your rate of aging
• Tests that measure your biological age

Tests that measure your rate of aging determine how fast you are aging.

Tests that measure your biological age determine how old you are biologically. 

You can compare the rate of aging to how fast a clock is ticking (how fast you are aging), and you can compare biological age to the time a clock displays (how old you really are).  

Changing the speed that the clock is ticking can be noticed in significantly less time than seeing change in a clock that has been ticking for decades. This is one of the multiple reasons we emphasize the Rate of Aging clock as the primary focus of Age (80% of the emphasis should be on this clock).

Biological age tests can be based off of the epigenome, proteome, microbiome, and more. Certain epigenetic tests are among the most accurate of all biological age tests, which is why NOVOS decided to offer these tests over alternatives.

To that point, there are already many epigenetic clocks in existence, and some  are better than others. 

Most epigenetic clocks measure biological age, to varying degrees of accuracy; very few of them measure the rate of aging. 

The DunedinPACE rate of aging clock is currently considered by many in the field to be the most relevant and accurate test available with regards to mortality and disease risk. 

It’s also the most actionable, since its outputs are based on your current lifestyle.

These are some of the reasons that we chose to offer the DunedinPACE clock to our customers. 

Your rate of aging is a measurement of how fast you age. It calculates how much you age biologically for each chronological year. 

The lower the value, the better. 

An average rate of aging would be a rate of one biological year for every chronological year you aged. If your rate of aging is lower than 1, you age slower than average.

For example, if your rate of aging is 0.9, you only aged 0.9 years biologically for each chronological year that passed, or 10% slower than average.

If your rate of aging is higher than 1, you age faster than an average person would be expected to age. 

For example, if your rate of aging is 1.2, you age biologically 1.2 years for each chronological year that passes, which is 20% faster than normal.

You want your rate of aging to be below 1; this means you’re aging more slowly than normal. 

The epigenetic rate of aging clock NOVOS uses has been developed by scientists from Duke University and Columbia University. The clock is called DunedinPACE. Multiple studies have been published about the DunedinPACE clock, including comparisons against other well-regarded epigenetic tests, in which DunedinPACE proved to be even more accurate.

Many experts in the field believe that DunedinPACE is currently the best clock available to measure your rate of aging. 

Besides the Rate of Aging clock, NOVOS Age also includes a biological age clock. 

The biological age clock determines how old you are biologically. 

If you are biologically older than your chronological age, this implies you have aged faster over the course of your lifetime. 

As a result, you could be at a higher risk of dying compared to someone with a lower biological age, or you could be at a higher risk of getting aging-related diseases and symptoms.

We emphasize risk, because we’re dealing with statistical probabilities. This risk can also be offset by making improvements to your lifestyle, via diet, activity, supplementation, sleep, stress management, etc., which we cover in our blog.

If your biological age is lower than your chronological age, this implies you have aged more slowly over the years. 

You could therefore have a lower risk of dying than someone with a higher biological age, or have a lower risk of aging-related diseases and symptoms.

It’s important to note that changes to your biological age will be more gradual than changes to your pace of aging, because the pace of aging measures your current speed, whereas your biological age measures a historical lifetime of aging.

Some may see changes in their biological age – either positive or negative – in very short timeframes (i.e., if they test every few weeks or months). These changes are most likely predominantly based on the error margins of the test and should not be interpreted literally.

Biological age tests are best looked at over the course of a year or more. You should accumulate a few results to see the overall trend relative to your chronological age.

In the meantime, focusing on your pace of aging will give you the appropriate guidance to know that what you’re doing is working.

The DunedinPACE clock is one of the most accurate epigenetic clocks. Nonetheless, it can be difficult to measure the impact of any single intervention, given the innumerable lifestyle factors that may counteract the positive effects on the clock.

For example, taking a supplement or exercising may have a positive impact on the clock that may be counteracted by other lifestyle variables (e.g., stress, sleep, diet, overindulging as a reward for exercising, other supplements, your microbiome, infections or activation of the immune system). In such a case, the net result is neutral or negative, meanwhile the wrong conclusion may be drawn – that the supplement or exercise did not confer any benefits.

This is even more the case for the biological age clock, which measures many forms of accumulated damage and lifestyle interventions you underwent throughout your life (including factors you were exposed to decades ago). 

Using this clock to measure whether one intervention (e.g., exercising more) changes the clock will be difficult in the short-term, given the clock is, in most cases, currently not accurate enough on an individual level (some studies, using dozens or hundreds of participants, can find effects of one or multiple interventions).  

Therefore, use the biological age clock to get an overview of all lifestyle interventions and habits accumulated over a lifetime. 

Use the rate of aging clock to get a general overview of your health and how fast you are aging right now, being mindful of the innumerable lifestyle and (epi)genetic factors that are playing a role.

We help you keep track of confounding factors by providing you with a short survey for you to complete with each NOVOS Age test. This will enable you to compare your lifestyle changes between tests in a more precise way than relying on your memory, and may help you make sense of your results.

Ideally, you get tested every year, at the same time, to minimize seasonal confounding factors and to have an insight on how you’re faring on your Longevity Journey.

We encourage you to retest your epigenetic age regularly (e.g., every 12 months), and not to expect changes too soon. However, what if you were biologically younger during one test and now older after retesting? Or vice versa?

This result can be due to the change being within the margin of error of the test. So, if it’s plus or minus one to two years, consider this to be a possible explanation. Additionally, there may be lifestyle factors that impacted your results that you may not be fully aware of.

It’s possible that in the time between two tests, you were exposed to factors that accelerated or decreased your aging rate or biological age. For example, psychological or physical stress, alcohol consumption, dietary patterns (what, when and how much you eat), activity types and levels, time spent in green spaces and sun exposure, air pollution and smoking or vaping, supplements or prescriptions, etc.

Ideally, you continue to test yourself over the long term to see the trend and to discover what lifestyle approaches work best for you on your Longevity Journey.

Epigenetic clocks are becoming increasingly accurate, trained on larger and more specific data sets. 

NOVOS will update its clocks as they evolve and adequate research supports their value, so that we can offer you the best science-based, validated clocks available to assess your health and biological age. 

Telomeres are the endcaps on your chromosomes that serve to protect your DNA. With each cell division, and with age, your telomeres shorten.

Once thought of as holding promise to possibly determine one’s biological age, scientists have since found that the range of telomere length is too wide given one’s age. Further, telomere length doesn’t predict disease risk or mortality – that is, until they become too short.

Telomeres can also be protected so that they shorten more slowly; they can also be lengthened. For example, certain ingredients in NOVOS Core, like pterostilbene, magnesium and lithium, have been found to have these favorable effects.

With this in mind, you should look at your telomere length as a biomarker that is relevant to understanding your overall aging process, but you should not look at it for your biological age. Specifically, if your telomere length is very short for your age, consider ways to slow down or reverse its shortening.

Currently, epigenetic clocks are arguably the best tools to paint a holistic picture of your health, aging, and longevity. 

Regularly testing your epigenetic rate of aging and biological age (e.g., every 12 months) can help you to assess your health and longevity potential. It can also give you insights into which lifestyle changes are moving you in the right direction.

The lower your epigenetic rate of aging and biological age, the healthier you are, and the lower your mortality risk. 

Go to novoslabs.com/registerage to register your kit. Use your kit’s bar code and complete your 5 minute health assessment.

Tips: Write down your barcode number for future reference.

Don’t forget, we are unable to process your sample until it is registered and your online health assessment is completed.

You’ll receive an email when the lab receives your sample. Your results will be ready 2-4 weeks after that date.

Once your results are ready, you will be able to access them by signing into your secure online account.

• Blood spot card
• Lancets
• Alcohol wipe
• Gauze pad
• Bandage
• Biohazard bag
• Prepaid return envelope
• Instruction manual
• Insert

For NOVOS Age, due to the nature of the product, all sales are final. Currently, we only ship in the United States. Please be sure that your shipping address is accurate before submitting your order.

No, we do not ship NOVOS Age outside of the United States at the moment. You can purchase NOVOS Core and NOVOS Boost in many non-US countries.

Yes. While you can’t change the number of birthdays that have passed (chronological age), science has proven it is possible to slow down or accelerate your biological age based upon lifestyle changes.