The Kardashians love this 'biological age test' so I tried it. Here's what I learned.

I am 32 years old. At least that's what my birth certificate tells me.

But if you asked me about my "biological age" – you know, the scientific measurement of my age based on fancy algorithms – I'm 27.9. No, wait I'm 33.33. Actually, my heart is 29.27, but my brain is 35.06.

Wait, what?

The short of it: I tried out a few biological age tests as part of my reporting on longevity to find out what all the fuss was about these types of measurements. Could companies indeed tell a whole lot about all my organ systems thanks to samples of my blood? What would it mean? Did I really want to know?

What I discovered is that numbers only tell part of our story. The trick to leading a healthier life is by focusing on what you can control, and to not let data overwhelm you in the process.

What TruDiagnostic, 23andMe biological age tests looked like

I tried out two different biological age tests: TruDiagonstic's TruAge, featured on "The Kardashians" this past summer, and genetic testing company 23andMe's Biological Age as part of its 23andMe+ "Total Health" package. TruDiagnostic's version currently costs $499 for a one-time purchase, as does 23andMe's first year of "Total Health."

My 23andMe process was simple; I showed up to a Quest Diagnostics, where a phlebotomist drew several vials of blood, like a normal test.

Completing the TruDiagnostic test was like being in my own little laboratory. I gathered all my instruments: lancets, a blood spot card, an alcohol wipe, gauze pad, bandage, biohazard bag and return envelope. The first lancet pricked my skin with alarming precision. Ouch. I dangled my finger over the square blood spot card, aiming to drip red dots into the circle as instructed. No dice. Squeezing my finger helped, plus a second lancet prick (Ouch again). I filled up the circle, mailed the test in and waited. Both companies offered more insights beyond biological age, but that's I was most curious about here.

Weeks (and weeks) passed, but all my results eventually slid into my inbox. This was it ...

'Your DNA is not your destiny'

Dr. Matt Dawson, chief executive officer of TruDiagnostic, guided me through my results – aka dumbed down the science for this health-knowledgeable-but-not-formally-trained-physician journalist.

"If we were to sequence your DNA, that's your human operating system. That tells us all the risk factors you have, advantages, disadvantages you have, but your DNA is not your destiny," he tells me over a Zoom call.

DNA accounts for 20% of our health outcomes; the other 80% is lifestyle. Exercise, diet, stress, sleep, environment. Epigenetics involves measuring how much each gene turns on and off based on these lifestyle factors. TruDiagnostic measures this through DNA methylation testing – how much your genes are being expressed based off your habits. The company offers three central reports: an overall biological age that predicts mortality, how individual organ systems are aging and your pace of aging.

Dawson prefers the pace test above all else; it offers a real-time look at what someone is doing to take care of their health. I liked it too, mostly because he told me "you're kind of killing it, you're exercising, you're eating well," which reflected in my 0.74 pace of aging. What can I say? I love good news.

If 'you're not skeptical, you're not a scientist'

What I didn't love: How my "older" ages included sad faces next to them. They taunted me like bullies at a playground.

My musculoskeletal and my heart were the youngest – 27.13 and 29.27, respectively – which Dawson said made sense based on my six-day-per-week running and exercise routines. My other organ systems were about on par with my age, though my brain is apparently 35.06 years old. And overall, I'm 33.33 years old. (Sad face.) Apparently, I need to sleep more and stress less. Solid advice but not sure I needed to pay someone to tell me that.

Like many test results I've received in my life, I wondered how much to put stock in all this. For his part, Dawson welcomes anyone's skepticism. "That's the whole point of science," he says. "Science is not, what's the truth? It's we're getting closer and closer to an approximation of the truth. (If) you're not skeptical, you're not a scientist." He touts his company's algorithms and partnerships with top universities. And while he knows there's a cost component, he generally recommends a few times a year depending on your goals.

Still, "this type of measurement is interesting but incomplete," argues Dr. Douglas E. Vaughan, professor of medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and the director of the Potocsnak Longevity Institute. "There are many other ways to measure biological age, including measuring levels of proteins in the blood" plus "a growing set of tools that use AI."

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'Different views into your general state of health'

Speaking of "other ways," let's not forget about the 23andMe Biological Age test. It told me overall I'm 27.9 years old, which, thank you, I've never felt so young. But why was this years off the TruDiagnostic result?

There are many ways to figure out biological age, says Bertram Koelsch, director of product R&D at 23andMe. The company bases its test off blood biomarkers; a machine learning model on the backend takes bloodwork results and predicts longevity. Yes, this is a different method than TruDiagnostic.

"There's no one perfect or best way to measure biological age," Koelsch says. "I like to think of it as like having a car. Your body is a car, and there's a bunch of different ways in which you can understand your car's state of health, right? There's the braking system, there's a steering system, there's the ventilation system."

If different companies' tests tell different results – as mine did – don't read too much into it. "Sometimes the results for any one individual might align, saying, 'oh, yeah, you're definitely younger or older.' Sometimes they might be different," Koelsch says. "And I don't think that means that one of those tests is right or wrong, but rather, they're just different views into what's your general state of health."

That said, "if you’re looking for precision, DNA methylation tests are the go-to," says longevity expert Dr. Halland Chen. "If you want actionable insights, blood biomarkers are a great place to start."

23andMe went the blood biomarker route because these are easily modifiable with lifestyle and diet changes. "That being said, blood biomarkers can totally also be affected by just randomness in life," he says. That's why you might want to get a bunch of different blood draws over time to get the best measurement.

Unlike TruDiagnostic, the results on 23andMe's website aren't as detailed; you can learn which biomarkers are younger, older or neutral but you won't find an exact age. Why? "We put a lot of work into identifying what are the crucial elements that a user needs to understand to be able to walk away empowered with this information and feel as though they understand what's going on," he says. I certainly felt less overwhelmed but craved more details with numbers attached – the catch-22 of health data – and could've consulted further with the company for more guidance. The company says more details about how your biomarkers influence biological age are coming soon.

I went to this bougie medical resort. A shocking test result spiked my health anxiety.

Do you need to buy a biological age test kit?

So, should you try out one of these tests? If you're hungry for data about your health, go for it. If you're spiraling just thinking about it, don't bother.

"Tests like these are just tools," Halland Chen adds, "they’re only as valuable as the actions you take afterward."

Diet, exercise and luck are the true names of the game for longevity. And you don't need a scientist to tell you that.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Are biological age tests like on 'The Kardashians' legit?