There are so many supplements claiming to help you defy the ageing process that it’s easy to think a veritable home pharmacy is needed to keep you healthy into old age. But anew study points to just one supplement that can have a real benefit to your longevity: omega-3. Regular capsules of the fatty acid could slow down your biological ageing. Unlike chronological age (the number of birthdays you’ve had), biological age is a more accurate predictor of lifespan as it reflects the rate of change in your DNA.
For the study, published in the journal Nature Ageing, an international team of researchers compared the effects of omega-3against vitamin D and regular exercise in over 700 adults aged over 70. Over three years, the participants – all living in Switzerland – were given a certain combination of omega-3, vitamin D, exercise, or none, while giving blood samples and using epigenetic ‘clocks’ to determine their rates of ageing. At the end of the trial, three of the four clocks revealed that the biological age of those taking omega-3was reduced by four months.
In previous studies, the same team showed that the supplement reduced signs of ageing when combined with either vitamin D or exercise. The strongest results appeared when all three were combined, lowering cancer risk and preventing frailty in participants.