Daily omega-3 slowed biological ageing over three years, with added benefits seen when combined with vitamin D and regular exercise in healthy older adults, based on DNA methylation clocks.
Nature Aging – January 2025
Key takeaways
- Omega-3 slows biological ageing: Omega-3 supplementation on its own decelerated biological ageing according to three DNA methylation clocks, PhenoAge, GrimAge2 and DunedinPACE, over a three-year period in healthy older adults
- Additive benefit from combining interventions: The combination of omega-3, vitamin D and simple home-based exercise produced additive effects in slowing PhenoAge, suggesting that integrating multiple low-risk interventions can offer greater protection against biological ageing than any single one alone
- Epigenetic markers show measurable change: Standardised changes in epigenetic age markers translated to a biological age deceleration of approximately 2.9 to 3.8 months over three years, demonstrating that these interventions can measurably influence biological ageing at the molecular level
- Greatest effect in those with lower baseline omega-3: Participants with lower initial blood levels of omega-3 fatty acids experienced stronger biological ageing benefits, indicating that baseline nutritional status may influence the effectiveness of supplementation strategies
Read the article at: Bischoff-Ferrari, Heike A., 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.” Nature Aging, vol. 5, 2025, pp. 376–385. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43587-024-00793-y.
