The one high-street supplement that actually slows ageing
You’ve almost certainly got a bottle of the stuff, somewhere in the back of your cupboard. Yet, if you’re anything like 75% of the UK population, you’re still not getting enough. And it’s time you should. Because a new study suggests that omega 3 – a cheap supplement, easy to swallow and readily available on any UK high street – genuinely helps to slow the ageing process.
The so-called ‘good fats’ found in seeds, nuts and oily fish, omega 3 fatty acids are already known to be a bit of a health powerhouse. ‘Omega 3 fats are critical to so many aspects of health, from cognitive function and immune resilience to mood and inflammation. We also know that they’re important in fertility, maternal health and infant development,’ says Rhian Stephenson, founder of the ARTAH supplement brand. Yet only 25% of the UK population is getting the recommended amount.
This trial, conducted from the University of Zurich, could change that. Using biological tools called epigenetic clocks, researchers found that healthy older people who took 1g of omega 3 every day aged an average three months less over the course of three years than their counterparts who hadn’t taken the supplement.
Heike Bischoff-Ferrari, the first author on the study and professor of geriatric medicine and healthy longevity at the University of Zurich, said: ‘While the effects may appear small, with three to four months rejuvenation of biological age in three years, if sustained, they may have relevant effects on population health.’
Want to boost the impact further? Taking vitamin D and regular exercise alongside that omega 3 boosted the effect to nearly four months, the study found.
Do you need to swallow supplements? Not necessarily, says Rhian. ‘There are many food sources of omega 3 fats, primarily fatty fish. To get the dosage studied in this trial, one would need to consume things like mackerel, salmon and sardines daily.’ There’s about 1g of DHA and 500mg EPA (both are omega 3 fatty acids) per average portion of salmon – so 1.5g in total, more than the quantity trialled in this study.
There are also plant sources of omega 3 fats, adds Rhian: ‘Walnuts, chia seeds, flaxseeds and soybeans all have an omega 3 fat called alpha-linolenic acid, which can be converted into EPA and DHA [the omega-3 fatty acids that are found in fish and fish oil supplements].’
This conversion, however, is pretty inefficient, Rhian says: ‘Only around 8% of dietary ALA is converted into EPA, and 5% into DHA, so it can be quite difficult to get an optimal amount of EPA/DHA from plants alone, especially as a therapeutic dose to combat cellular ageing.’
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