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Daily Multivitamin May Help Turn Back Your Biological Clock, Study Suggests
A new study offers promising news for those looking to slow down the aging process – at least on a cellular level. Researchers from Harvard Medical School and Mass General Brigham have found that taking a daily multivitamin could significantly slow biological aging, especially for individuals whose bodies are aging faster than their chronological years.
Published in the journal Nature Medicine, the study highlights that both daily cocoa extract and a multivitamin were observed to slow down biological signals linked to mortality. However, the most significant impact on biological aging was attributed to the multivitamin.
The key to understanding this lies in “epigenetic clocks,” which are tools that estimate biological age by analyzing changes in our DNA. These changes occur at specific sites that regulate gene expression and naturally evolve as we get older. By tracking these signals, scientists can gain insights into the pace of aging and even predict mortality.
“There is a lot of interest today in identifying ways to not just live longer, but to live better,” said Howard Sesso, the study’s lead author and a preventive medicine specialist at Mass General and epidemiologist at the Harvard Chan School of Medicine. Sesso added that this research “opens the door to learning more about accessible, safe interventions that contribute to healthier, higher-quality aging.”
The study drew data from the Cocoa Supplement Multivitamins Outcomes Study, analyzing DNA changes in blood samples from 958 healthy participants with an average age of 70. These participants were divided into groups: one taking daily cocoa extract and a multivitamin, another taking cocoa and a placebo, a third taking a placebo and a multivitamin, and a final group taking only a placebo for two years. Researchers then assessed five epigenetic clocks in blood samples taken at the beginning, after one year, and after two years.
The findings revealed a statistically significant slowdown in biological aging – approximately four months – for the group taking a daily multivitamin compared to the placebo-only group. This effect was particularly noticeable in individuals who were biologically older than their actual age at the start of the study. Interestingly, the research also indicated that cocoa extract had no discernible effect on biological aging.
While these results are encouraging, the researchers emphasize that further work is needed to fully understand the clinical implications 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,” noted Yanbin Dong, a study co-author and researcher at the Medical College of Georgia, Augusta University.