A large clinical trial suggests that taking a daily multivitamin may help slow biological aging in older people, especially those whose bodies were aging faster than expected at the start of the study.
Researchers at Massachusetts General Brigham analyzed data from older adults who participated in randomized clinical trials and found that two years of multivitamin use was associated with slower biological aging based on several DNA-based measurements. This effect was equivalent to an approximately 4-month reduction in biological aging over the study period. The survey results are natural medicine.
“Today, there is a lot of interest in identifying ways to not just live longer, but better,” said senior author Howard Sesso, Ph.D., MPH, vice chair of the Division of Preventive Medicine at the Massachusetts General Brigham Medical School. “It was exciting to see the benefits of multivitamins in relation to markers of biological aging. This study opens the door to learning more about accessible and safe interventions that contribute to healthier, higher-quality aging.”
How scientists measured biological aging
Biological age reflects the rate of aging of the body at the cellular level and may differ from a person’s actual age. To measure this process, the researchers used an “epigenetic clock,” which estimates biological aging by looking at small chemical changes in DNA over time.
These clocks focus on regions of DNA involved in regulating gene activity (known as DNA methylation). Because these changes occur naturally with age, scientists can also use them to estimate the rate of aging and predict risks associated with disease and death.
The new study used information from the COcoa Supplement Multivitamins Outcomes Study (COSMOS), a long-term clinical trial in older adults. The researchers examined DNA methylation data in blood samples from 958 healthy participants with an average chronological age of 70 years.
Daily multivitamin intake linked to delayed aging
Participants in the trial were randomly assigned to one of four groups: a group that received cocoa extract daily and a group that received a daily multivitamin. Daily cocoa extract and placebo. Placebos and multivitamins. Or just a placebo.
The researchers compared changes in five separate epigenetic clocks at the beginning of the study, one year later, and two years later. Compared to participants who only took a placebo, participants who took the multivitamin showed slower biological aging across all five measurements. Two of the clocks strongly associated with mortality risk showed statistically significant reductions.
Overall, the results of this study suggested that multivitamin use reduced biological aging by approximately 4 months over 2 years. The strongest effects appeared in participants whose biological age was already earlier than their chronological age at the start of the study.
“We plan to conduct follow-up studies to determine whether the slowing of biological aging observed with these five epigenetic clocks and any additional or new clocks persists after the study ends,” said co-author and co-investigator Yangbin Dong, MD, of the Georgia Prescription Institute at the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University.
Possible link between brain health and disease prevention
Researchers say further research is needed to understand how slowing biological aging affects long-term health outcomes. The COSMOS team will continue to study whether the effects of daily multivitamin intake can help explain previous findings linking improved cognition and reduced risk of cancer and cataracts.
“Many people take multivitamins without necessarily knowing the benefits of taking them, so the more you learn about the potential health benefits of multivitamins, the better,” Sesso says. “Within COSMOS, we are fortunate and excited to be building a rich resource of biomarker data to test how two interventions can ameliorate biological aging and reduce age-related clinical outcomes.”
Study authors, funding, and disclosures
In addition to Sesso, authors of Mass General Brigham include Sidon Lee, Rikta Hamaya, Alexandre C. Pereira, Kelly L. Ivey, Pamela M. List, and Joan E. Manson. Other authors include Haidong Zhu and Brian H. Chen.
Mr. Munson and Mr. Sesso received an investigator-initiated grant from Mars Edge, the nutrition research and products division of Mars Incorporated, for infrastructure support and donation of COSMOS investigational drugs and packaging, and an investigator-initiated grant from Pfizer Consumer Healthcare (now Haleon) for the donation of COSMOS investigational drugs (Centrum Silver and Placebo) and packaging during the study. Mr. Sesso further reported receiving investigator-initiated grants from Haleon, FOXO Technologies, Massachusetts Life Sciences Center, Pure Encapsulations, and American Pistachio Growers during the conduct of his research, and lecture fees, honoraria, and/or travel expenses from the Council for Responsible Nutrition, BASF, Haleon, and NIH. Rist has received in-kind support (specifically donations of investigational drug and packaging) from Mars Edge for use in an NIH-funded investigator-initiated clinical trial (U01 AT012611). Mr. Chen, a former FOXO Technologies employee, made an in-kind donation for the generation and preprocessing of DNA methylation data. A charitable gift from Sutter Health’s California Pacific Medical Center Foundation covered Ms. Chen’s salary. Ms. Lee received an EPI Early Career Travel Grant sponsored by the American Heart Association’s Epidemiology and Prevention Council Early Career Committee.
This study was funded by the National Institutes of Health (HL157665). The COcoa Supplement and Multivitamin Outcomes Study (COSMOS) also received support from Mars Edge, including infrastructure support and donations of study tablets and packaging. Pfizer Consumer Healthcare (now Haleon) partially provided the investigational drugs (Centrum Silver and Placebo) and packaging. Additional support was provided by National Institutes of Health grants AG050657, AG071611, and EY025623. The companies involved had no role in study design, data collection, analysis, or preparation of the manuscript.
