Woman Alive deputy editor, Jemimah Wright explores how Katie Piper’s light-hearted claim that “God keeps me young” carries far more scientific weight than it first appears. What begins as a podcast anecdote unfolds into a deeper look at faith, biology, and the surprising ways spirituality can help us age more slowly.
Is it true that faith keeps you young? Well, recently I listened to comedian, Katherine Ryan interview Katie Piper for the latest episode of her podcast, What’s My Age Again? And according to Katie, who is a Christian, God keeps her young!
Each week, Katherine interviews a celebrity guest and invites them to take a biological-age blood test (rather than just talk about how old they are). During the episode they explore not only the test results, comparing “body age” to chronological age, but also the guest’s lifestyle, family background, health habits, and attitudes toward ageing, health, and longevity. The show also features a resident scientist, Dr Nichola Conlon, who explains what the biological-age tests mean and offers insight into the science behind ageing and wellness.
Katie spoke about staying connected to faith while juggling the sheer volume of modern life.
Katie spoke about staying connected to faith while juggling the sheer volume of modern life. “I can’t always commit to church in the way I’d like,” she said. “But I use the Lectio 360 app twice a day—morning and evening.”
READ MORE: Katie Piper: ‘I found comfort in my local church’
At the end of the podcast the results of the blood test were shared, and 42 year old Katie Piper’s biological age came back as 22. Katie’s response was instant: “God keeps me young!”
Dr Nichola Conlon actually agreed with her, because, it turns out, faith has long been associated with slower biological aging, longer life expectancy, and better health outcomes.
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Below are some of the key studies that show why.
1. The Hummer Study (1999): Religion and Lower Mortality Rates
One of the most cited analyses, conducted by Robert Hummer and colleagues (1999), found that people who regularly attended religious services lived up to 7 years longer than those who did not. The researchers concluded that the combination of social support, healthier behaviours, and reduced stress likely contributed to the effect.
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2. The Oman & Reed Study (1998): Faith and Stress Recovery
In a study published in the Journal of Gerontology, Oman & Reed (1998) discovered that older adults who engaged in regular spiritual practices had significantly lower stress levels and better physical functioning than their nonreligious counterparts. Regular spiritual engagement acted as a buffer against the physiological wear and tear associated with chronic stress.
3. Koenig’s Body of Research (2001–present): Faith, Inflammation & Immunity
Dr. Harold G. Koenig, a leading figure in spirituality and health research, has produced decades of evidence showing that prayer, religious involvement, and spiritual meaning correlate with:
- · lower inflammation
- · improved immune functioning
- · reduced depression and anxiety
- · slower cognitive decline
Inflammation in particular is a key driver of biological aging, linking Koenig’s findings directly to longevity.
4. The Blue Zones Research (Buettner, 2005–ongoing): Faith as a Longevity Marker
Dan Buettner’s research into the world’s longest-living populations consistently identifies faith-based community involvement as a core lifestyle feature. Blue Zone residents—whether Adventists in California or Christians in Sardinia—tend to engage in weekly communal worship, which provides routine, belonging, and stress reduction.
Hope, which has physiological consequences—reducing inflammation, improving sleep, and stabilising the nervous system
5. The Harvard T.H. Chan Study (2016): Religion and Health in Women
A study from Harvard found that women who attended religious services more than once a week had 33% lower mortality over a 16-year period. The benefits remained even after accounting for lifestyle, social support, and psychological factors.
Across these studies, several themes consistently appear:
- · Lower stress hormones through prayer and meditation
- · Enhanced social connectedness, a major predictor of longevity
- · A greater sense of meaning, which supports emotional resilience
- · Healthier daily habits, often reinforced by faith communities
- · Hope, which has physiological consequences—reducing inflammation, improving sleep, and stabilising the nervous system
Katie’s biological age result is of course influenced by genetics, lifestyle, and individual factors. But when she joked that God keeps her young, she was unintentionally echoing decades of scientific research suggesting that faith really does shape the body as well as the soul.
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