A large new clinical trial suggests that taking a daily multivitamin may help slow biological aging in older adults.
Researchers from Mass General Brigham found that older people who took a multivitamin every day for two years showed signs of slower aging at the cellular level compared with people who took a placebo.
The findings were published in the journal Nature Medicine and add to growing scientific interest in ways to improve healthy aging rather than simply extending lifespan.
Scientists say the study does not prove that multivitamins can stop aging or dramatically extend life. However, the results suggest that daily multivitamin use may slightly slow some biological processes linked to aging.
The research focused on something called biological age.
Chronological age simply measures how many years a person has lived. Biological age is different because it reflects how quickly the body appears to be aging internally.
Some people may be 70 years old chronologically but have bodies functioning more like someone younger or older depending on lifestyle, genetics, stress, illness, diet, exercise, and environmental factors.
Scientists increasingly believe biological age may provide important clues about future health risks and lifespan.
To measure biological aging, researchers used advanced tools known as epigenetic clocks.
These clocks examine tiny chemical changes in DNA called DNA methylation. These changes naturally occur over time and influence how genes function inside cells.
By studying these DNA patterns, scientists can estimate how fast the body is aging biologically and predict risks related to disease and mortality.
The new study used data from the COSMOS trial, which stands for the COcoa Supplement and Multivitamin Outcomes Study.
COSMOS is a large long-term clinical trial designed to study how dietary supplements affect health in older adults.
The researchers analyzed blood samples from 958 healthy participants with an average age of 70 years.
Participants were randomly divided into four different groups. Some received daily multivitamins along with cocoa extract supplements, while others received either one supplement or placebo pills.
The researchers measured participants’ biological aging using five different epigenetic clocks at the start of the study and again after one year and two years.
Compared with participants taking only placebos, people taking multivitamins showed slower biological aging across all five measurements.
Two of the epigenetic clocks, which are strongly linked to disease risk and mortality, showed statistically significant slowing.
Overall, researchers estimated that multivitamin use slowed biological aging by the equivalent of about four months over the two-year study period.
The strongest effects appeared in participants whose biological age was already older than their actual chronological age at the beginning of the trial.
This suggests that people aging more rapidly may potentially benefit the most from nutritional support.
Dr. Howard Sesso, senior author of the study and associate director of the Division of Preventive Medicine at Mass General Brigham, said many people are interested not only in living longer but also in maintaining better health and quality of life while aging.
He explained that the study offers encouraging evidence that simple and accessible interventions may help support healthier aging.
Researchers also emphasized that multivitamins are relatively inexpensive, widely available, and generally safe for most people when used appropriately.
However, scientists caution against interpreting the findings too broadly.
The biological aging differences observed in the study were relatively modest, and the research does not prove that multivitamins directly prevent diseases or extend lifespan.
The researchers say more long-term studies are needed to determine whether these biological changes lead to meaningful health improvements over many years.
The COSMOS research team plans to continue studying whether slowing biological aging may help explain earlier findings from the same trial that linked multivitamin use to improved memory, reduced cancer risk, and lower rates of cataracts.
Scientists also want to investigate whether the effects continue after people stop taking multivitamins and whether similar benefits occur in younger adults.
Experts not involved in the study note that healthy aging depends on many factors beyond supplements.
Regular exercise, balanced nutrition, sleep, stress management, social connection, and avoiding smoking all play important roles in maintaining long-term health.
The researchers stress that multivitamins should not replace healthy eating or medical care.
Still, the study provides further evidence that nutrition may influence biological aging in measurable ways.
The findings are especially important because the study was a randomized clinical trial, which is considered one of the strongest types of medical research.
Overall, the results suggest that daily multivitamin use may offer small but potentially meaningful benefits for biological aging in older adults.
If you care about nutrition, please read studies about the harm of vitamin D deficiency, and Mediterranean diet may preserve brain volume in older adults.
For more health information, please see recent studies about foods to naturally lower high blood pressure, and a simple breakfast switch can help control type 2 diabetes.
The study was published in Nature Medicine.
Source: Mass General Brigham.
