Taking just one capsule of a supplement a day can slow down the biological rate of ageing, a study has found. Researchers have previously found that cutting calories can slow down the ageing process in humans.
Taking vitamin D or omega-3 fatty acids has also shown promising results in slowing biological ageing in animals. However whether these would have the same effect on people was unclear.
Now a clinical trial involving 777 people has looked more closely at whether the activities would work in humans. Scientists tested eight different groups or treatments. Those taking part took 2,000 international units (IU) of vitamin D and/or 1 gram of omega-3 fatty acids (from algae) daily and/or performed 30 minutes of strength training at home three times a week over three years.
Then researchers, led by Prof Heike Bischoff-Ferrari, in collaboration with Steve Horvath, senior researcher at Altos Labs Cambridge (UK), used molecular biology tools known as epigenetic clocks to calculate the rates the participants were biologically ageing.
When they analysed the blood samples, they found that taking omega-3 fatty acids slowed down biological ageing by up to four months – regardless of subjects’ gender, age or body mass index. The combination of omega-3, vitamin D and strength training proved to be even more effective, according to one of the four epigenetic clocks used.
The study backs previous research carried out under the DO-HEALTH study, a large multi-centre clinical trial into the effects on vitamin D, omega-3 fatty acids and exercise on ageing in the over-70s. These found by carrying out all three aspects can reduce the risk of infections and falls and prevent cancer and premature frailty.
Prof Bischoff-Ferrari. said: “This result extends our previous findings from the DO-HEALTH study, in which these three factors combined had the greatest impact on reducing the risk of cancer and preventing premature frailty over a three-year period, to slowing down the biological ageing process.” She said each of these measures works through different mechanisms that complement each other and, when combined, result in a heightened overall effect.
The team acknowledged the limitations of the study. However Prof Bischoff-Ferrari said: “There is no generally accepted gold standard for measuring biological age.
“However, we analysed the best currently validated epigenetic clocks, which reflect the state of the art.” The researchers also point out that the sample consists exclusively of Swiss participants and therefore does not represent the global population of older adults aged 70 years and older. In a next step, they plan to extend their analyses to all DO-HEALTH participants – including people from Germany, France, Austria and Portugal – to account for a greater diversity of genetics and lifestyles.
People can buy Omega 3 fish oil capsules in health shops and supermarkets. They cost £17.99 for 120 1000mg capsules at Holland & Barrett making them about 15p each.