“Cellular health” is the latest fixation of the wellness industry—here’s what it means for you
How many cells make up your body? It’s actually not all that easy to answer. But recently, scientists have made a pretty good effort. And their final count is…around 37.2 trillion.
Taken together, you are a picture of these cells. Your actions—going to the gym, sleeping eight hours, and mitigating stress—contribute to keeping your cells healthy and, as a result, your body healthy too. Cells are literally the building blocks of the complex human beings that we are. The whole point of any lifestyle intervention we have—whether that be diet, exercise, recovery, sleep, or stress management—is to increase the function of your cells. The term
“cellular health”
isn’t new. But in the past year, thanks in no small part to billionaire biohackers and health-span-enhancing TikTok trends like intermittent fasting and chugging liquid chlorophyll, it’s come to the forefront. (On the app, #cellularhealth has 9.3 million views and counting.) This rising interest in keeping our cells healthy has occurred in lockstep with the wellness world shifting its focus to longevity, an industry that’s estimated to be worth $610 billion globally by 2025. Scientists have posited that the first person to live to 200 has already been born, and that type of optimism is only possible thanks to new learnings and innovations around cellular health. But as the fountain of youth has begun to feel within reach, brands have capitalized on our collective desire to live longer by slapping
“cellular health”
–promoting language on their labels, even when the science isn’t exactly there to support it.
What is cellular health?
Your cells are where it all starts—if your cells aren’t functioning properly, the entire system [of your body] can’t function properly, which is why cellular health is really critical. Anything we can do to improve our disease profile—another way of saying ‘improve our healthspan’—starts and ends with our cells. As we age, and when we eventually die, it’s a failure of our cells that causes that to happen. The health of your cells is characterized by a few different factors, including how effectively they’re producing energy (which, as you may remember from high school biology, comes from the
“mighty mitochondria”);
their hydration, nutrition, and oxygenation; the integrity of their DNA; and their ability to respond to stress. The better these functions are, the lower your
“biological age”
(which, unlike your chronological age—the number of years you’ve been alive—directly correlates to how well your body functions) and the better your overall health span. In other words, a 50-year-old with a solid diet and exercise routine could have a biological age of 45, while someone who’s 45 and stressed out and sedentary may be biologically in their mid-60s.
This is because cellular health is directly correlated with a healthy lifestyle. Things like poor sleep and nutrition, dehydration, excessive stress, and a lack of exercise can all cause cells to age more quickly than the body that houses them, as can inflammation, oxidative stress from the environment, infections, and genetic mutations. Recent research has confirmed that these broader lifestyle practices can have a ripple effect at the cellular level, and in turn, better our odds of living longer, healthier lives. According to one new study, exercise improves muscle health by renewing mitochondria
(“the powerhouse of the cell”),
which transform the nutrients we consume into the energy we need to live. Another theory, called the restorative theory, posits that adequate sleep is necessary for our body to restore itself. While we snooze, our systems switch into
“rest and repair”
mode, during which cells regenerate at a faster rate to replace old, dead cells with fresh new ones that are raring to go. The health of our cells ripple up to the health of our entire body. And it’s smart to intervene at the cellular level because if individual cells are better maintained, a person will stay more intact—and youthful as a whole—for longer.
New technology promises to keep cells healthy as we age—but it may be too good to be true
Emerging research has proved that it is possible to keep our cells biologically younger—and in turn, our bodies healthier—as we age. Considering that age is the number one risk factor for nearly all diseases (the older you get, the more likely you are to get sick), innovations like senolytic drugs, which work as a cellular clean-up crew, sophisticated forms of high-tech gene editing at the doctor’s office, and at-home tests that give you a picture of your genetic health are a big damn deal. The most tried-and-tested methods for promoting cellular health, however, are fairly simple. A healthy, plant-forward diet that’s rich in antioxidants and anti-inflammatories, adequate hydration, solid sleep, and stress management, and regular fitness are all backed by mountains of research that confirm their longevity-enhancing benefits. In the past year, a slew of new research has emerged to confirm that moderate exercise that gets your heart rate up to 70% of its max and increases your aerobic capacity, is one of the most impactful ways to keep cells healthy as we age. But as cellular health has continued to come to the forefront, the wellness world has begun experimenting with new ways to improve it even further. In the years since Elysium introduced the world to the concept of cellular health, a number of other brands have begun to use the term in their marketing materials. A quick Google Search of
“cellular health”
supplements delivers hundreds of results, many of which aren’t exactly backed by legitimate research.
Then, there’s the Wild West of the biohacking world, where cellular health has taken center stage in recent years. Though research around many popular practices is still largely lacking, it hasn’t stopped people from testing them out in pursuit of living longer—or prevented brands from hopping on board with veryexpensive offerings to help them do it. Take PEMF, or
“pulsed magnetic electrical field,”
therapy. It uses magnets that mimic the pull of the earth’s magnetic field and is purported to improve cellular repair, communication, and energy production—but no large-scale studies exist to back its efficacy. Hot-and-cold therapies have also been buzzing. A 2023 study out of that followed 2,000 people for 25 years found that those who used a sauna four times a week had a 24% lower risk of overall mortality compared to those who used a sauna once a week or less. Some scientists posit that these results are due to saunas' impact on cellular health—namely, their ability to produce heat-shock proteins, which promote cellular repair and improve cells' ability to respond to stressors—but more research still needs to be done.
Some studies suggest that LED therapy, which uses specific wavelengths of light to stimulate cellular activity, can promote ATP production and mitochondrial function to give cells more energy, but again, we need more research to confirm just how effective these treatments actually are. And on the other end of the spectrum, there’s cryotherapy. Though there have yet to be any conclusive studies confirming that dunking into freezing cold water has any legitimate impact on cellular health, a growing body of research suggests it can boost cellular metabolism and antioxidant activity.
Adapted from: GQ
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