3 common factors may be secretly speeding up the aging process, expert says

Lifestyle habits and environmental exposures may affect processes involved in cellular health and biological aging.

That's according to functional medicine expert Dr. Will Cole, co-author of the upcoming book "Heal Your Cells," who believes modern lifestyle factors may contribute to cellular dysfunction, which can influence inflammation, sleep and other processes tied to overall health.

"Our genetics haven't changed in thousands of years, but our world has changed dramatically in such a finite period of time," Pennsylvania-based Cole told Fox News Digital. "It’s the foods we're eating or not eating, it's environmental toxins that were never on the landscape before, it’s stress and trauma."

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Cole said these pressures may contribute to what he calls an "accelerated aging problem," in which biological age may differ from chronological age.

"Many people in their 20s, 30s and 40s have the cells of a senior citizen," he said. "That's common, [but] not normal."

Cole noted that people may normalize persistent symptoms, such as brain fog and fatigue, instead of discussing them with a health professional. Those symptoms are non-specific and can stem from a range of medical, lifestyle and mental health factors.

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Cole said that, in some cases, changes tied to cellular dysfunction may begin years before a person receives a medical diagnosis — but that people often dismiss or push through early symptoms.

He identified the following three factors that can most disrupt cellular communication, creating "cellular noise" that may contribute to accelerated aging and disease.

Eating foods that "don’t love human body back" is the first agitator of cell health — particularly inflammatory foods, according to Cole.

Failing to stick to a consistent eating window — and instead eating over long stretches of the day without giving the body time to digest and fast — can also disrupt cellular balance, he said.

Cole cited certain environmental exposures, including pesticides, herbicides and PFAS — sometimes called "forever chemicals" — as potential concerns for overall health. The effects of an exposure depend on the substance, dose and duration of contact, experts say.

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He also pointed to infectious pathogens, such as bacteria and viruses, and exposure to mold as factors that can affect health.

Evening exposure to blue-enriched light can interfere with circadian timing for some people, while a consistent sleep-wake schedule and daytime light exposure may support healthy sleep and cellular health, Cole added.

Cole also pointed to chronic stress, unresolved trauma and a lack of social or spiritual connection as factors that could be linked to more cellular noise.

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Some observational research has linked religious or spiritual involvement with lower levels of certain inflammatory markers and better health outcomes, although such studies cannot prove that faith itself causes those effects.

"That's something that's not talked [about] a lot in the biohacking world," Cole said. "What's your relationship with God and how does that show up in the cells on a somatic level?"

"The research shows that people who have a ‘faith walk’ tend to live longer, healthier, more youthful, vibrant lives."

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Cole said a person may find similar benefits through any belief system or community that "shifts your state," as well as through a connection to nature.

Modern stressors may affect the body in ways that are not always immediately visible, Cole noted.

"The cell becomes confused and doesn't know how to function well and doesn't know how [to] repair itself," he said. "We just need to give our body a fighting chance to hear through the noise."

He added that addressing physical, mental-emotional and spiritual well-being may help reduce what he calls "epigenetic noise."