MEDICAL NEWS TODAY – A study published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition examined how omega-3 fatty acid and vitamin D supplementation affected telomere shortening, a natural process that happens with age.
As the authors of this study explained, telomeres help protect the ends of chromosomes. Telomere shortening might increase the risk of death and certain diseases.
David Cutler, MD, a board certified family medicine physician at Providence Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, CA, who was not involved in the study, told Medical News Today:
“When telomeres become too short, cells enter senescence (a non-dividing state) or apoptosis (programmed cell death). Either condition of cell inactivity or death is thought to contribute to aging and age-related diseases.”
The researchers found that vitamin D supplementation helped minimize telomere shortening in white blood cells, which could help slow down biological aging.
For this study, researchers used data from the VITAL trial. This trial included a representative sample of adults in the United States who received vitamin D3 supplements, omega-3 fatty acid supplements, or both for around five years.
It was a double-blind, placebo-controlled study, so some participants received the supplements while others received the placebo. All female participants were at least fifty-five years old, and all male participants were at least fifty.
This data specifically examined a cohort that visited the Harvard Clinical and Translational Science Centre. At baseline and follow-up visits, participants participated in in-person assessments and provided fasting blood samples.
Researchers examined telomere length in leukocytes, which are the body’s white blood cells, among participants who received supplements and those who received the placebo.
Researchers were able to analyze over 2,500 samples from over 1,000 participants. They examined telomere length at baseline and at two- and four-year follow-up, though some data was missing …
