A Very Cheap Way To Slow Biological Aging

“Multivitamins and minerals are good for longevity” is an interesting one as a topic, because:

1. On the one hand, that is already popularly assumed
2. On the other hand, multivitamins and minerals are equally popularly much-derided as a waste of money

And indeed, they have their limitations, and yes, it’s still better to get everything from one’s diet.

Warning: do not, however, fall into the trap that many do, and think “I don’t need to take supplements because it’s better to get it from my diet” and then not, in fact, get a full coverage from your diet

So, for whatever reason you might choose to take a multivitamin and mineral, let’s take a look at…

Cause and effect

Researchers (Dr. Sidong Li et al.) found that taking a daily multivitamin for two years slowed biological aging by the equivalent of about four months.

So, that’s basically as if every time you went forwards 6 years, you went back 1 year.

Compared to what, you ask?

Good question, because if it’s “compared to not taking it”, and if it’s an observational study, then there can be all kinds of confounding factors, most of them rooted in the theme “people who do thing 1 for their health are more likely to also do things 2, 3, 4, and 5 for their health”.

The answer, happily, is: “compared to placebo”. It was a randomized controlled trial.

Next up, some may be wondering what “biological age” is. In fact, biological age is not one thing but quite a lot of things, each of which can age at different rates.

See for example: Age & Aging: What Can (And Can’t) We Do About It?

One of the best ways to try to boil it down to a composite figure, however, is to look at epigenetic clocks.

First let’s quickly cover the question of: what does “epigenetic” mean? In few words and put simply, epigenetics is the study of “around genetics”, i.e. the things that are not the genes themselves, but modulate how (and indeed, whether or not) genes are expressed.

In this case, Dr. Li and her team used epigenetic clocks that estimate biological age based on patterns of DNA methylation, which influence gene expression and naturally change with age. The quicker the progression of the clock, the faster the aging.

The analysis included DNA methylation data from blood samples of 958 healthy participants with an average chronological age of 70 who were randomized to receive combinations of cocoa extract, multivitamins & minerals, or placebo.

• Good news: participants taking a multivitamin enjoyed slowing across all five epigenetic aging clocks tested, with strongest effects in the two clocks most strongly linked to mortality risk.
• Bad news: the cocoa extract supplement was a bit of a flop. Didn’t help. Or rather, it had no effect whatsoever on the 5 epigenetic clocks tested.

The reason why she tested cocoa extract for this, is because of: Cocoa vs Biological Aging!

…in which Dr. Li (yes, the same Dr. Li) and her team (mostly the same team, but not entirely the same) found that daily cocoa extract reduced hsCRP (a key inflammation marker tied to heart disease) by about 8.4% per year compared with placebo, suggesting anti-inflammatory and cardio-protective effects, and also noted that this cocoa extract supplementation reduced cardiovascular mortality by 27%.

Which is relevant, because epigenetic clocks and inflammatory markers are two out of three of: The 3 Best Predictors Of How Well You’ll Age

If you’d like to read Dr. Li’s latest work, you can find it here: Effects of daily multivitamin–multimineral and cocoa extract supplementation on epigenetic aging clocks in the COSMOS randomized clinical trial ← published literally today, at time of writing this article. Never let it be said we don’t bring you cutting edge health science news!

Want to learn more?

You might like this book we reviewed a while back

Eat Your Vitamins – by Mascha Davis, RDN ← This book methodically discusses an assortment of vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients; the “other nutrients” category including amino acids (branched chain and essential), prebiotics and probiotics, and triglycerides of various kinds.

Enjoy!