WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - A recent study in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition looked into how taking omega-3 fatty acids and vitamin D might affect the shortening of telomeres, the protective ends of chromosomes that naturally get shorter with age.
The research, published earlier this week, showed that vitamin D supplements helped slow down the shrinking of telomeres over a four-year period.
The study used data from the large-scale VITAL trial, which involved adults across the U.S. Women in the study were at least 55 years old, and men were at least 50. The participants were randomly given either vitamin D3, omega-3 supplements, both, or a placebo for about five years.
'This is of particular interest because VITAL has also shown benefits of vitamin D in reducing inflammation and lowering risks of selected chronic diseases of aging, such as advanced cancer and autoimmune disease,' co-author JoAnn Manson said in the press release.
The study focused on a group that visited the Harvard Clinical and Translational Science Center. Participants gave fasting blood samples and went through health assessments at the start and during follow-up visits.
Scientists measured telomere length in white blood cells and compared results between those who took the supplements and those who didn't. They collected more than 2,500 blood samples from over 1,000 people, looking at changes in telomere length at the beginning, after two years, and again after four years, although some data was missing.
'Our findings suggest that targeted vitamin D supplementation may be a promising strategy to counter the biological aging process, although further research is warranted,' said first author Dr. Haidong Zhu, a molecular geneticist at the Medical College of Georgia.
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