A daily multivitamin may help slow biological aging, based on a study of people who took them for two years and whose DNA showed fewer changes over time than people who did not take the vitamins. Photo by Lawrence Looi UK & Ireland Out/EPA
March 9 (UPI) — A daily multivitamin may slow biological aging — the rate at which our bodies age on a cellular level — significantly, especially for people biologically older than their actual age.
Researchers at Harvard Medical School and Mass General Brigham found that daily cocoa extract and multivitamin slowed biological signals that are predictive of mortality, they write in a study published in the journal Nature Medicine.
Epigenetic clocks can estimate biological aging based on changes in DNA by looking at sites that regulate gene expression and change as people age.
By monitoring these signals, it is possible to track mortality and the pace of aging, as well as the predict it.
“There is a lot of interest today in identifying ways to not just live longer, but to live better,” Howard Sesso, lead author of the study,” said in a news release.
“This study opens the door to learning more about accessible, safe interventions that contribute to healthier, higher-quality aging,” said Sesso, preventive medicine specialist at Mass General and epidemiologist at the Harvard Chan School of Medicine.
Using data from the Cocoa Supplement Multivitamins Outcomes Study, the researchers analysed DNA changes in blood samples from 958 randomly selected healthy study participants who had an average actual age of 70.
The participants were randomized to take daily cocoa extract and a multivitamin, cocoa and a placebo, placebo and multivitamin or only placebo for two years, with researchers analyzing five epigenetic clocks in blood samples from the study’s start, at the end of the first year and at the end of the second year.
Overall, compared to the placebo-only group, those taking a multivitamin saw a statistically significant slowing of biological aging by about four months — especially for those who were biologically older than their age when the study started.
The researchers also found that cocoa extract had no effect on biological aging.
While the results are promising, the researchers concluded in the study that additional work is needed to better determine the clinical relevance of multivitamins on biological aging.
“We plan to do follow-up research to determine if the slowing of biological aging — observed through these five epigenetic clocks, and additional or new ones — persists after the trial ends,” Yanbin Dong, study co-author and researcher at the Medical College of Georgia, Agusta University, said in the release.
