A new clinical trial involving over 700 older adults over a three-year period provides evidence supporting the geroprotective benefits of omega-3 supplementation and also suggests the benefits of additive combinations of omega-3 supplementation with vitamin D supplementation and exercise.
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Consuming one gram of omega-3 per day may slow down the rate of biological ageing in humans. Image credit: Lqiuz.
Previous clinical trial research has shown that restricting caloric intake may slow aging in humans.
Other research conducted in animal studies or small pilot trials on slowing biological aging, such as by consuming vitamin D or omega-3, has also shown promising effects.
However, whether these interventions work in humans remains unclear.
In a new clinical trial involving 777 participants aged 70 and older from Switzerland, University of Zurich researcher Heike Bischoff-Ferrari and colleagues used molecular biology tools known as epigenetic clocks to calculate how rates of aging were affected.
During the study, testing eight different groups or treatments, participants consumed 2,000 International units (IU) of vitamin D per day, and/or took 1 gram of omega-3 per day and/or participated in a 30-minute home exercise program 3 times a week across a 3-year span.
In an analysis of blood samples, the researchers found that omega-3 consumption moderately slowed biological aging across several of the epigenetic clocks by up to 4 months.
This finding was not dependent on the sex, age or body mass index of the participant.
Combining omega-3, vitamin D, and exercise was found to work even better, as shown by one of the tests.
Additionally, the scientists also found that these three interventions together had the biggest impact on lowering cancer risk and preventing frailty over three years.
Each intervention works through different but related mechanisms, and when combined, they reinforce each other, creating a stronger overall effect.
“Our trial indicates a small protective effect of omega-3 treatment on slowing biological aging over 3 years across several clocks, with an additive protective effect of omega-3, vitamin D and exercise based on PhenoAge,” the authors said.
Their paper was published this week in the journal Nature Aging.
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H.A. Bischoff-Ferrari et al. Individual and additive effects of vitamin D, omega-3 and exercise on DNA methylation clocks of biological aging in older adults from the DO-HEALTH trial. Nat Aging, published online February 3, 2025; doi: 10.1038/s43587-024-00793-y
