Zombie cells are ageing you faster: Learn how to eliminate these senescent cells

Not all cells in your body are functioning as they should. Some become dysfunctional and refuse to die, lingering and causing harm instead of being cleared out.

These are "zombie cells," or senescent cells, and they play a significant role in accelerating ageing, fuelling inflammation, and increasing the risk of age-related conditions like joint pain, cardiovascular issues, and cognitive decline.

Fortunately, science is shedding light on how to address these problematic cells, opening doors to strategies that could enhance your healthspan, potentially keeping diseases at bay.

By targeting zombie cells, you can take proactive steps to protect your cellular health and slow your ageing process.

In this Avea article, we’ll cover everything you need to know about zombie cells—what they are, why they form, and how to get rid of them. Learn how to take charge of your cellular health and boost your longevity, because vitality rises from your cells.

What are zombie cells, and why are they a problem?

Zombie cells are damaged cells that stop dividing but refuse to die. Normally, healthy cells divide to repair tissues and maintain organ function.

When damaged, they enter a state called cellular senescence—a natural defence mechanism that prevent faulty cells from dividing and potentially causing harm, such as cancer.

While protective in the short term, issues arise when zombie cells accumulate due to:

Increased production caused by ongoing damage from lifestyle habits or external factors.
Decreased removal as your body’s ability to identify and clear senescent cells weakens with age.

In fact, the accumulation of zombie cells is now recognised as a hallmark of ageing. In a nutshell:

Inflammation and damage: Zombie cells release inflammatory molecules that harm nearby healthy cells and can convert them into more zombie cells, creating a vicious cycle.
Disrupted tissue repair: Zombie cells interfere with tissue repair by inhibiting healthy cell growth and impairing stem cell function, reducing the body's ability to produce new cells.
Immune system burden: Their build-up overwhelms the immune system, weakening its ability to maintain healthy tissues.

Over time, these effects contribute to ageing, chronic inflammation, and diseases like arthritis, Alzheimer’s, and other degenerative conditions.

What causes the accumulation of zombie cells?

Your health depends on balance and harmony—how your body manages stress and keeps its systems working together. This delicate state, known as homeostasis, becomes harder to maintain with age, as well as certain lifestyle habits or external factors.

Here are what can prevent your body from removing zombie cells efficiently, contributing to their build-up:

1. Long-term stress

Daily challenges like financial struggles, work pressures, or family conflicts trigger the release of stress hormones like cortisol. Over time, high cortisol levels lead to inflammation and oxidative stress, overwhelming your body’s ability to clear zombie cells.

2. Unhealthy lifestyle choices

Smoking and drinking alcohol: These habits introduce toxins that damage your cells, speeding up their transition to a zombie-like state.
Poor diet: Ultraprocessed foods, high sugar, and unhealthy fats deprive your body of nutrients and antioxidants, making it harder to repair damaged cells.
Lack of exercise: A sedentary lifestyle weakens your body's repair system, leaving dysfunctional cells behind.

3. Environmental toxins

Living in polluted areas, using chemical-heavy cleaning products, or exposure to industrial toxins damages your DNA, creating more zombie cells your body struggles to clear.

4. Chronic inflammation from everyday habits

Obesity, frequent consumption of junk food, and unresolved infections create low-grade, ongoing inflammation that forces healthy cells into senescence.

5. Genetic factors

If your family has a history of early ageing, autoimmune diseases, or cancer, your body may naturally produce or retain more zombie cells. While you can’t change your genes, lifestyle adjustments help reduce their impact.

6. Sun exposure and UV damage

Too much UV exposure damages skin cells, accelerating their entry into a senescent state and increasing zombie cell accumulation.

7. Poor sleep habits

Skipping sleep or having an inconsistent sleep schedule disrupts your body’s nightly "clean-up" processes, allowing damaged cells to linger.

How harmful are zombie cells?

Here’s a list of diseases associated with increased cellular senescence:

Cardiovascular issues
Metabolic disorders
Neurodegeneration
Musculoskeletal problems
Liver dysfunction
Kidney impairment
Lung damage
Skin ageing and disorders
Cancers
Acute condition

The importance of senescent cell removal

Growing older doesn't have to mean inevitable decline; in fact, ageing can be slowed, and its effects even reversed.

By focusing on removing excess senescent cells, we can:

enhance organ function
alleviate disease symptoms
promote healthier ageing

Clinical studies have shown that targeting senescent cell removal can lead to improvements in conditions like liver fibrosis, pulmonary disease, and certain cancers.

The aim is to extend healthspan–the years you live in good health,
restore balance in your body, and potentially prevent or delay the onset of age-related diseases.

Because who wouldn’t want to stay vibrant and accomplish their dreams, no matter their age?

4 tips to get rid of zombie cells naturally

1. Exercise

We all know regular exercise is a must for healthy ageing. But did you know that at the cellular level, exercising can reduce senescent cells in vital organs like your heart, liver, and muscles?

While all exercise is beneficial, some types are proven to be especially effective at reducing these zombie cells.

Studies show that:

Running for 30–45 minutes, 3–4 times per week, reduces senescence markers in the heart, improving cardiovascular health.
Swimming for 45 minutes, 3 times a week, lowers liver inflammation and supports overall organ health.
Treadmill workouts for 30 minutes, 5 times a week, improve kidney health by reducing stress-related senescence.

Note that moderate exercise is most effective. Extreme levels of exercise may increase brain senescence, potentially leading to adverse effects.

Pairing regular, moderate exercise with a balanced diet ensures maximum health benefits, helping to combat senescence and support long-term cellular health.

Discover how to exercise for longevity with advice from 4 experts.

2. Diet

Sure, you’ve heard it a million times—“eat your veggies.” But here’s the thing, the right dietary habits can actually help tackle zombie cells and keep your body thriving at the cellular level.

Avoid high-sugar and high-fat diets: These foods speed up the build-up of zombie cells by causing harmful damage inside your body, particularly in your brain.
Try calorie restriction and intermittent fasting: Reducing calorie intake or taking longer breaks between meals reduces inflammation and helps your cells repair themselves.
Antioxidant-rich foods: Consuming a Mediterranean diet, abundant in fruits, vegetables, and healthy fats, has been shown to reduce oxidative stress and senescence-associated stress in cells.

Discover the Blue Zones diet: the secrets behind the longest-living people on Earth.

3. Gut health

The hype about gut health is real. Probiotics and prebiotics can improve your gut microbiome diversity, reducing inflammation and senescent cells.

Probiotics: Found in fermented foods like yoghurt, kefir, kimchi, sauerkraut, miso, and kombucha, or available as supplements, these help strengthen your immune system and support your gut health.
Prebiotics: These are fibres found in foods like bananas, onions, garlic, leeks, asparagus, oats, and apples. They act as food for good gut bacteria, promoting a balanced and thriving microbiome.

4. Sleep

Skipping sleep isn’t as harmless as it feels, even if you power through the day. During deep sleep, your body repairs damaged cells, clears out senescent ones, and renews healthy cells to keep tissues functioning at their best.
Quality sleep fuels this cellular renewal, sharpens your brain, lifts your mood, and boosts recovery. And here’s the kicker—a consistent sleep routine is even more effective for repair than just clocking extra hours of sleep.

Discover how to build the best sleep routine, as advised by biohacker Bryan Johnson.

Innovative ways to kill or get rid of senescent cells

Thanks to advance in science and technology, researchers have developed targeted methods to directly remove or neutralise zombie cells, in an attempt to improve healthspan and combat age-related diseases more effectively.

This progress has paved the way for innovative strategies, like senolytics and senomorphics.

1. What are senolytics?

Senolytics are compounds or drugs specifically designed to target and eliminate senescent cells.

Studies have shown that Quercetin and Fisetin, are both effective natural senolytics, each disrupting the survival mechanisms of these unwanted zombie cells.

Quercetin: A natural senolytic found in certain fruits and vegetables, Quercetin works by breaking down the defences of senescent cells, causing them to self-destruct. Studies have shown that Quercetin can lower inflammation and improve overall health markers.
Fisetin: Another powerful natural senolytic, Fisetin targets and clears senescent cells. Research suggests it may lower inflammation, and, in animal studies, even increase lifespan by up to 10%.

Discover the difference between Quercetin and Fisetin here.

2. What are senomorphics?

Senomorphics are different from senolytics as they focus on modifying the behaviour of senescent cells rather than removing them directly.

In short, these drugs work to mitigate the harmful effects of senescent cells, including their inflammatory secretions, without actually killing them. This approach helps minimise the damage senescent cells cause to surrounding tissues.

Combining senomorphics with senolytics could offer a more comprehensive solution—senolytics to eliminate senescent cells and senomorphics to manage the remaining ones.

However, because zombie cells vary widely in type and behaviour, identifying and targeting them effectively remains challenging.

Supplements to eliminate zombie cells: The Cell Primer

Avea designed the Cell Primer as a cutting-edge supplement combining 6 powerful natural ingredients to help your body eliminate harmful senescent cells while supporting overall cellular health and vitality.

Here’s a look at how each ingredient in the Cell Primer contributes to your longevity:

1. Targets zombie cells with senolytics

Quercetin: This powerful senolytic exhibits anti-inflammatory properties, reducing the harmful effects caused by zombie cells. The Cell Primer includes 500 mg of Quercetin—the equivalent of what you’d get from eating about 50 apples.
Fisetin: Another potent senolytic that works by breaking down senescent cells and promoting healthier tissue function. The Cell Primer contains 125 mg of Fisetin, which would require eating around 237 medium-sized onions to match.

Dr David Sinclair, one of the leading figures in the field of ageing and longevity research, takes Quercetin and Fisetin daily.

2. Boosts cellular energy production

PQQ (Pyrroloquinoline Quinone): This coenzyme and antioxidant supports your cells' energy factories, the mitochondria. Since mitochondrial dysfunction is a major driver of cellular senescence, maintaining healthy mitochondria can help reduce the build-up of senescent cells.

As PQQ levels naturally decline with age and dietary sources provide only small amounts, supplementing with PQQ can support energy production, improve cellular health, and potentially limit the harmful effects of senescent cells.

3. Protects cells from oxidative stress

Ergothioneine: Sourced from mushrooms, this rare and powerful antioxidant shields your cells from oxidative stress—a major driver of cellular damage and cellular senescence. To get 5 mg of Ergothioneine as in the Cell Primer, you’d need at least 295 g of oats daily.

Selenium: An essential trace mineral that supports your body’s antioxidant defences, immune function, and energy production. The Cell Primer provides 100 µg of selenium—the same amount as in 5.5 cups of cooked brown long-grain rice.

4. Stimulates cellular renewal

Spermidine: Known as a longevity super-ingredient, Spermidine promotes autophagy, the body’s natural process of clearing out damaged cell components and recycling them for repair. This process is essential for reducing the accumulation of senescent cells and supporting rejuvenation.

Benefits of taking the Cell Primer to combat zombie cells

The Cell Primer is designed to help you feel and notice real, measurable improvements in your health:

More energy: Feel less fatigue and power through your day with ease.
Better focus and mental clarity: Stay sharp and productive, whether at work or home.
Reduced inflammation: Notice fewer aches, stiffness, and that "heavy" feeling.
Improved resilience: Feel stronger and more capable of handling life’s challenges.
Enhanced recovery: Bounce back faster after workouts or busy days.

With the Cell Primer, you’re giving your body the tools it needs to eliminate harmful zombie cells and boost cellular performance. We use a premium blend of ingredients, chosen for their potency, bioavailability and purity. Remember, when your cells work better, you work better.