What is metabolic age and why should you care about it?
A new laboratory study by Terveystalo reveals how your body is aging. Metabolic age makes biological aging visible.
In February 2026, Terveystalo will introduce a new generation of laboratory testing for its customers, with metabolic age as a key element.
– Our current lifestyle challenges our health, well-being, and society. For example, obesity is not just weight gain or excess energy stored in the body. It is a biologically active state that changes the body's functioning on many levels. In particular, fat accumulated around the internal organs acts as a tissue that maintains low-grade inflammation. It burdens the metabolism and impairs sugar regulation. The mechanisms are the same ones that we know to be key drivers of biological aging, explains Ilse Rauhaniemi, Chief Physician of Preventive Healthcare at Terveystalo.
Metabolic age is determined using modern blood technology developed by our long-term partner Nightingale Health, which measures numerous values from a single blood sample and compares them to the population of the same age and gender group. The method is based on samples from hundreds of thousands of people and more than 10 years of follow-up studies, which have been used to develop risk models.
When we talk about aging, we often think about the calendar. The years that inevitably pass. However, in medicine, we are becoming increasingly aware that the biological aging of the body can be influenced. ”
Ilse Rauhaniemi
Biological age reveals changes in lifestyle and metabolism
Biological aging is an individual process and does not progress at the same rate for everyone. Research shows that a person's biological age can differ from their calendar age by as much as 5–10 years in either direction, and in some cases the difference can be as much as 20 years.
– This is very significant. It means that biological aging is not a passive and inevitable process. It is a process that can be slowed down by changing lifestyle habits, says Rauhaniemi.
Poor lifestyle habits are linked to the aging of the body. They affect the body's ability to regenerate, recover, and defend itself against disease.
– This is clearly evident in clinical work. When lifestyle-related risk factors are identified early and addressed systematically, the effects are not limited to laboratory values or a reduced risk of disease. Often, stamina, alertness, work performance, and perceived quality of life also improve, says Rauhaniemi.
Metabolic age is an understandable and scientifically robust indicator
The lifestyle disease risk report developed by Terveystalo and Nightingale utilizes research findings and helps identify, among other things, heart and vascular health, changes in sugar metabolism, early risks to the liver and kidneys, and the metabolic burden caused by lifestyle factors. The aim of the report is to make multidimensional health information easy to understand.
– Metabolic age brings the information in the report together. It tells you how old you would be if your age were assessed solely on the basis of your disease risk profile, says Rauhaniemi, describing the significance of metabolic age.
We do not study genetics, but rather things that people can influence. Metabolic age shows concretely what your own lifestyle means. ”
Ilse Rauhaniemi
It is worth addressing the situation among young people
Studies have also found that premature aging of the body has become more common among younger generations. Metabolic age and the lifestyle disease risk report as a whole have been developed to describe this phenomenon.
– Several independent studies show that premature biological aging and obesity, for example, follow the same metabolic pathways. Our current lifestyle means that even though our life expectancy is increasing, the number of healthy years we can expect to live is not increasing. The effects of our lifestyle are already visible in the metabolic age and risk report of young people whose traditional blood values may still be normal, Rauhaniemi explains.
The link to work ability is clear
Terveystalo's own data shows that an increased risk of lifestyle-related diseases is strongly linked to increased sick leave, regardless of age and biological sex. Metabolic age provides a clear picture of the state of the body in relation to others of the same age and serves as an accurate tool for both individual and occupational health decision-making.
– We know from other studies that lifestyle and lifestyle-related diseases are linked not only to well-being and work ability, but also to work efficiency. We want to motivate both individual customers and organizations to adopt healthy lifestyles. This benefits everyone: individuals, organizations, and Finnish working life. Metabolic age is one figure that makes the issue understandable at both the individual and group levels. From an organizational perspective, it is interesting to see how metabolic age and calendar age differ from each other, Rauhaniemi concludes.
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