Daily Omega-3 Supplements May Slow Down Aging, Study Finds

Researchers found that omega-3 acids found in fish oil and certain seeds may reduce aging and premature frailty.

Omega-3 fatty acids, found in fish and flax seeds, may slow down the body’s aging process, according to a new study.

This week, a team of researchers, including some from Harvard University in the United States and Switzerland’s University of Zurich, analyzed 777 Swiss people older than 70 to determine whether omega-3 or other supplements can lessen the effects of aging. Their findings were published on Feb. 3 in the journal Nature Aging.

One of the tests conducted by the researchers showed that combining omega-3 supplementation with vitamin D and exercise was found to work better in slowing down the effects of aging in older adults, according to the paper.

At the same time, their study found that vitamin D, exercise, and omega-3 had the largest effect on lowering the risk of cancer and premature frailty over a three-year period.

But they noted that, in particular, researchers “found that taking omega-3 fatty acids slowed down biological aging across several epigenetic clocks by up to four months—regardless of subjects’ gender, age or body mass index,” according to a statement by the University of Zurich.

During the study, which tested eight separate groups for treatments over a three-year period, the participants consumed some 2,000 IUs of vitamin D each day, took one gram of omega-3 per day, participated in a home exercise program for 30 minutes three times per week or did some combination of the three, according to the statement.

“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, referring to a measure of biological aging they used.

University of Zurich professor of geriatrics and geriatric medicine Heike Bischoff-Ferrari, who led the research team, said in the statement: “This result extends our previous findings from the DO-HEALTH study, in which these three factors combined had the greatest impact on reducing the risk of cancer and preventing premature frailty over a three-year period, to slowing down the biological aging process.”

Foods with high amounts of omega-3 acids include fatty fish and other seafood such as salmon, mackerel, tuna, herring, and sardines, as well as seeds and nuts such as chia seeds, walnuts, and flax seeds, officials say. Fish oil supplements are also a source of omega-3 fatty acids.

They differ from omega-6 fatty acids, which are found in soybeans, corn, sunflower and safflower oils, some nuts and seeds, and animal products.

Last year, a study released by the University of Georgia’s College of Public Health and Cornell University found that a higher omega-6 to omega-3 ratio is associated with a higher risk of developing cancer or cardiovascular disease.

“Participants with the highest ratios of omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids were 26 [percent] more likely to die of any cause, 14 [percent] more likely to die of cancer, and 31 [percent] more likely to die of heart disease than individuals with the lowest ratios,” that study reads, although it notes that people with high levels of both omega-6 and omega-3 “were both associated with a lower risk of dying.”

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