Inflamm-Aging: Aging Well with Diabetes
I'm sitting in my car after a particularly long day at work, scrolling through podcast episodes while waiting for traffic to clear, when I spot a new episode from the Zoe podcast titled "The daily step count that cuts inflammation in half," which talks about inflammaging.
Inflammaging? That wasn't a typo, was it?
I'd never heard this term before, despite spending years researching everything I could about diabetes management, cardiovascular health, and metabolic optimization. Here I was, someone who could recite the inflammatory cascade from memory and explain how chronic inflammation affects blood sugar control, and yet this concept was completely foreign to me.
Thirty minutes later, as I sat in my driveway with the engine still running, completely absorbed in what I was hearing, I realized I'd stumbled upon something that could fundamentally change how I thought about my long-term health strategy. This wasn't just about managing diabetes or optimizing my current health markers—this was about understanding how the chronic inflammation I'd been fighting could literally determine how I age.
That podcast episode became the catalyst for what I now call my "inflammaging education," and what I discovered was both sobering and incredibly hopeful.
The Inflammation-Diabetes Connection I Thought I Knew
For over four decades of living with Type 1 diabetes, I thought I had inflammation figured out. I knew that high blood sugar levels create inflammatory responses throughout the body. I understood that diabetes puts me at higher risk for cardiovascular disease partly because of chronic inflammation. I'd even optimized my diet specifically to reduce inflammatory markers.
But here's what I hadn't fully grasped: while I was focused on managing the immediate inflammatory effects of diabetes, I was missing the bigger picture of how chronic inflammation was potentially accelerating my aging process at the cellular level.
The research I dove into after that podcast was eye-opening. People with diabetes don't just have higher levels of inflammatory markers like C-reactive protein and interleukin-6—we're essentially living in a state of chronic, low-grade inflammation that, if left unchecked, can accelerate virtually every aspect of aging.
It was like discovering that while I'd been successfully putting out the obvious fires, there was a slow-burning blaze in the background that I'd never even noticed.
What Exactly Is Inflammaging?
Inflammaging—a term coined by researchers in the early 2000s—describes the chronic, low-grade inflammation that develops as we age, and how this inflammation, in turn, accelerates the aging process itself. It's a vicious cycle that creates what scientists call a "feedback loop of aging."
Think of it like this: imagine your immune system is a sophisticated security team that's supposed to respond to threats and then stand down when the danger passes. In inflammaging, it's as if the security team never gets the "all clear" signal. They remain perpetually activated, patrolling for threats that may not even exist, and in their hypervigilance, they start causing damage to the very building they're supposed to protect.
At the cellular level, this chronic inflammation damages our DNA, shortens telomeres (the protective caps on our chromosomes), and interferes with cellular repair mechanisms. It's like having a construction crew that's supposed to maintain your house but instead keeps making small, cumulative damage that eventually compromises the entire structure.
For those of us with diabetes, this process can be significantly accelerated. The frequent blood sugar fluctuations, even well-managed ones, create oxidative stress that feeds into the inflammatory cycle. The insulin resistance that many people with Type 2 diabetes experience directly promotes inflammation. Even the autoimmune component of Type 1 diabetes means our immune systems are already in a heightened state of activation.
What struck me most about the research was learning that inflammaging isn't just about feeling older or developing age-related diseases—it's about the fundamental rate at which our cells age and our bodies lose their ability to repair and regenerate.
The Hopeful Discovery: It's Not Inevitable
Here's where the story gets encouraging: inflammaging isn't just something that happens to us as we age. It's something we can actively influence through the choices we make every day.
The same lifestyle strategies that had transformed my metabolic health were, I realized, already working to combat inflammaging. But armed with this new understanding, I could be even more strategic about my approach.
The Anti-Inflammaging Nutrition Strategy
The foods I'd already embraced for blood sugar control turned out to be powerful anti-inflammaging tools:
The Omega-3 Connection: The fatty fish I'd been eating for cardiovascular health provides EPA and DHA, which are converted into specialized pro-resolving mediators—compounds that literally help resolve chronic inflammation at the cellular level.
The Polyphenol Powerhouse: Those colorful vegetables I'd learned to love weren't just providing fiber and potassium; they were delivering polyphenols that can cross the blood-brain barrier and protect against neuroinflammation—a key component of cognitive aging.
The Fiber Factor: The 30 grams of fiber I was targeting daily was feeding beneficial gut bacteria that produce short-chain fatty acids, which have direct anti-inflammatory effects throughout the body.
The Movement Medicine
My daily 10,000 steps and regular cardio weren't just supporting my cardiovascular system—they were creating what researchers call "myokines," anti-inflammatory compounds released by working muscles that can slow cellular aging.
Even more fascinating was learning about exercise's effect on cellular cleanup processes called autophagy—essentially your cells' ability to take out their own trash and recycle damaged components. Regular physical activity enhances this process, literally helping your cells stay younger.
The Sleep-Inflammation Connection
My Oura ring data took on new meaning when I understood that poor sleep doesn't just make you tired—it directly promotes inflammaging. During deep sleep, your brain's glymphatic system clears out inflammatory waste products that accumulate during the day. Without adequate sleep, these inflammatory compounds build up, accelerating cellular aging.
Those 7+ hours of sleep I'd been prioritizing weren't just helping me feel better—they were actively slowing my aging process.
The Stress-Aging Link
My meditation practice gained new significance when I learned about the research on chronic stress and telomere length. People with higher stress levels have shorter telomeres, indicating accelerated cellular aging. The 20 minutes of daily mindfulness I'd incorporated wasn't just managing my blood sugar—it was literally helping preserve my cellular youth.
The Technology That Reveals the Process
What excited me most about understanding inflammaging was realizing how my existing health tracking could provide insights into this process. While I couldn't directly measure inflammaging at home, I could track the lifestyle factors that influence it:
My continuous glucose monitor showed me how different foods affected my inflammatory load through blood sugar stability. My sleep tracking revealed whether I was getting the restorative sleep needed for cellular repair. My heart rate variability data indicated my stress resilience and recovery capacity.
Even my resting heart rate trends, tracked automatically by my Apple Watch, could provide clues about my inflammatory status—chronic inflammation often manifests as elevated resting heart rate over time.
The Long-Term Vision That Changed Everything
Understanding inflammaging shifted my perspective from managing today's health to investing in decades of vitality. This wasn't just about maintaining good lab numbers or feeling energetic—it was about preserving my cognitive function, maintaining my independence, and potentially extending not just my lifespan but my healthspan.
The research suggests that people who successfully manage inflammaging don't just live longer—they live better for longer. They maintain muscle mass, cognitive sharpness, and physical independence well into their later years.
For someone with diabetes, this was particularly meaningful. Instead of accepting that my condition meant accelerated aging and inevitable complications, I realized I could potentially age more successfully than people without diabetes who weren't paying attention to inflammaging.
The Daily Choices That Compound
The beautiful thing about anti-inflammaging strategies is that they're not exotic interventions or expensive treatments—they're the same fundamental lifestyle choices that support optimal health at any age:
Choosing colorful, whole foods over processed options
Moving consistently throughout the day
Prioritizing quality sleep
Managing stress through mindfulness practices
Maintaining social connections and purpose
Continuing to learn and challenge your brain
Each of these choices creates a small deposit in your "anti-inflammaging account," and over time, these deposits compound into profound effects on how you age.
The Journey Continues
That podcast episode about inflammaging didn't just introduce me to a new concept—it reframed my approach to long-term health. I realized that every meal, every workout, every meditation session wasn't just affecting how I felt today, but was influencing how I would age over the coming decades.
The person who used to think about health in terms of managing current problems now thinks about health as an investment in future vitality. The strategies remain the same, but the vision has expanded from optimizing today's metrics to preserving tomorrow's possibilities.
Your relationship with inflammation doesn't have to be a losing battle against time. It can be an active partnership with your body's natural ability to heal, adapt, and thrive—not just for months or years, but for decades to come.
The aging process is inevitable, but how we age is largely up to us. And that choice starts with your very next meal, your next walk, your next night's sleep.
Your future self is counting on the choices you make today. What will you choose?
