Dr. Oz: How to Measure Your Body's True Age

Forget wrinkles. To gauge how old your body really is, check your blood pressure.

“It’s the number one cause of aging,” says Dr. Oz.

When high blood pressure blows a hole in one of your arteries, your body has to patch it up, either with healthy HDL cholesterol or lousy LDL cholesterol, he says.

If you eat a healthy diet full of lean meat, produce and good fats found in flaxseed oil and nuts, then you’re more likely to have a high amount of HDL, which makes a great patch on your artery wall.

Lousy LDL cholesterol, on the other hand, makes a crackling patch that doesn’t last, resulting in a scab, known in the medical world as a thrombosis.

A thrombosis can close off major arteries of the body, increasing your risk of heart attack.

So remember these two things: High blood pressure is like a fire hydrant—you don’t want to open up on your arteries—so aim for a reading that’s 120 over 80 or less. Number two: Get your cholesterol checked regularly so you know how much healthy HDL you have compared to unhealthy LDL.