Scientists in Switzerland have suggested that, in combination with regular exercise, omega-3 and vitamin D supplements might help slow biological ageing by several months over a three-year period.
In their findings, published in Nature Ageing, the scientists said that biological ageing happens at the molecular level, so even if two people are the same age, their bodies may age at different speeds depending on their overall health.
Although a reduction of a few months in biological ageing may seem modest, they added, this could have meaningful public health benefits, including a lower prevalence of certain age-related conditions.
The researchers analysed data from the DO-HEALTH trial, which had examined the impact of supplements and exercise on older adults across five European countries between 2012 and 2014.
They reviewed information from more than 700 participants aged 70 and older, who were assigned either a placebo or omega-3, vitamin D, and exercise, alone or in combination.
All participants were based in Switzerland, and approximately half were in good health, without major chronic illnesses or disabilities.
Biological ageing assessed via four biological clocks
To assess biological ageing, blood samples were collected at the beginning and end of the study and analysed using four biological clocks.
First author Heike Bischoff-Ferrari, MD, MPH, DrPH from the University of Basel Department of Ageing Medicine, and the University of Zurich’s Department of Geriatrics and Ageing Research, explained the key findings to Medical News Today.
“In our prior studies in the same trial (DO-HEALTH) of generally healthy adults age 70 and older, we found omega-3 lowered the rate of falls by 10% and reduced the rate of infections by up to 13% , while omega-3, vitamin D and exercise combined lowered the risk of pre-frailty by 39% and invasive cancer by 61%,” she said.
“Given these health benefits, we explored whether these treatments also translated to slowing of biological ageing. For this we studied the most reliable molecular markers of biological age: epigenetic clocks.
“Our findings provide a strong signal that omega-3 supplementation (1 [gram per day] algae-based) slows biological ageing in humans, and that the combination vitamin D and exercise may make this effect even stronger. Biological age was slowed by three-four months in three years.”
Key to measuring ageing
The researchers explained that these clocks measure biological ageing by tracking changes in DNA methylation, specifically the addition and removal of methyl groups.
They also noted that using multiple DNA methylation clocks was a key strength of the study, as each clock captures different aspects of the ageing process.
One of the biological clocks used in the study, PhenoAge, indicated that older adults who took 1 gram of polyunsaturated omega-3 fatty acids from algae, combined with vitamin D (2 000 international units per day) and 30 minutes of exercise three times a week, slowed biological ageing by approximately 2.9 to 3.8 months over three years.
While omega-3 alone reduced biological ageing in three of the epigenetic clocks analysed, the combination of all three interventions had an even greater impact.
“To date, one of the most critical questions in the field of slowing biological ageing is whether a treatment exists that can effectively rejuvenate humans, not just mice,” Bischoff-Ferrari said.
“Our findings provide a strong signal that omega-3 slows biological ageing in humans, and that the combination vitamin D and exercise may make this effect event stronger. While the effects documented (3-4 months rejuvenation of biological age) might appear small, if sustained, they may have relevant effects on population health.”
Steve Horvath, PhD, another lead researcher involved, said that the results in DO-HEALTH for the prevention of infections, falls, cancer and pre-frailty translated to slowing biological ageing in the same trial.
“This supports these three public health strategies as a combined solution at the public health level to extend health span in older adults. Further, these strategies are affordable and safe as shown in DO-HEALTH over a three-year follow-up,” he said.
“As a next step, we plan to use DO-HEALTH as a validation platform for novel measures of biological ageing and have just built the global health span extension consortium to advance the concept of combining feasible life-style changes that play on different mechanistic pathways of biological ageing and become powerful in combination.”
Further research needed
The researchers said although the treatments slowed down ageing at the molecular level, there is no clear proof that this leads to a longer life or better health.
In addition, previous findings from the DO-HEALTH trial showed that omega-3 supplementation reduced the risk of falls by 10% and infections by up to 13% compared with those who did not take the supplement.
Further research has also suggested that a combination of omega-3, vitamin D, and exercise may lower the risk of cancer.
With this in mind, some experts have cautioned against drawing broad conclusions from the findings, as further research is needed.
Clifford Segil, DO, a neurologist at Providence Saint John’s Health Centre in Santa Monica, California who not involved in this research, told MNT that he likes to see studies which test combination vitamin therapies for health – and in clinical practice vitamin D is often given with calcium.
“I would have like to see the study broken into three parts which would have been biological age affects from Vitamin D and omega 3 supplementation. A second part confirming how much exercise decreased biological age with new next generation tests. And then a third part to confirm that both together worked better than alone.”
Study details
Individual and additive effects of vitamin D, omega-3 and exercise on DNA methylation clocks of biological ageing in older adults from the DO-HEALTH trial
Heike Bischoff-Ferrari, Stephanie Gängler, Maud Wieczorek et al.
Published in Nature Ageing on 3 February2025
Abstract
While observational studies and small pilot trials suggest that vitamin D, omega-3 and exercise may slow biological ageing, larger clinical trials testing these treatments individually or in combination are lacking. Here, we report the results of a post hoc analysis among 777 participants of the DO-HEALTH trial on the effect of vitamin D (2,000 IU per day) and/or omega-3 (1 g per day) and/or a home exercise program on four next-generation DNA methylation (DNAm) measures of biological ageing (PhenoAge, GrimAge, GrimAge2 and DunedinPACE) over 3 years. Omega-3 alone slowed the DNAm clocks PhenoAge, GrimAge2 and DunedinPACE, and all three treatments had additive benefits on PhenoAge. Overall, from baseline to year 3, standardised effects ranged from 0.16 to 0.32 units (2.9–3.8 months). In summary, our trial indicates a small protective effect of omega-3 treatment on slowing biological ageing over 3 years across several clocks, with an additive protective effect of omega-3, vitamin D and exercise based on PhenoAge.
See more from MedicalBrief archives:
Omega-3 link to improved life expectancy and cardiovascular outcomes — Two studies
Studies show little or no benefit from omega-3 supplements and slight risk
Daily multivitamins linked to slower cognitive ageing — COSMOS-Mind study