Researchers from Mass General Brigham say taking a daily multivitamin may help older adults slow some of the body’s aging processes at the cellular level.
The new study, published in Nature Medicine, found that older adults who took multivitamins for two years showed slower biological aging compared with people who took placebo pills.
Scientists estimate the effect was equal to roughly four fewer months of biological aging during the study period.
The findings are part of growing research into healthy aging. Many scientists today are focusing not only on helping people live longer but also on helping them stay healthier and more physically independent as they grow older.
One important idea in this field is biological age.
Unlike chronological age, which simply counts birthdays, biological age reflects how quickly the body appears to be aging internally.
Some people age faster than others due to factors such as diet, exercise, stress, illness, sleep quality, smoking, and genetics.
Researchers believe biological age may provide a more accurate picture of future disease risk and overall health than chronological age alone.
To estimate biological age, scientists often study changes inside DNA using tools called epigenetic clocks.
These clocks examine patterns of DNA methylation, which are tiny chemical changes attached to DNA that affect how genes work.
As people grow older, these patterns gradually change. By measuring them, researchers can estimate how quickly a person’s body is biologically aging.
The new study used data from the COSMOS trial, a large clinical study involving older adults.
COSMOS stands for the COcoa Supplement and Multivitamin Outcomes Study.
Researchers analyzed blood samples from 958 healthy participants with an average age of around 70 years.
Participants were randomly assigned to different groups receiving combinations of multivitamins, cocoa extract supplements, or placebo pills.
Researchers then measured biological aging using five different epigenetic clocks at the beginning of the study and again after one and two years.
The scientists found that participants taking multivitamins showed slower biological aging across all five measurements compared with participants receiving only placebos.
Two of the biological aging measurements showed statistically significant slowing and are considered especially important because they are strongly linked to disease risk and mortality.
Overall, the researchers estimated that daily multivitamin use reduced biological aging by about four months during the two-year trial.
Interestingly, the strongest effects appeared in people whose biological age was already older than expected for their actual age.
This suggests that people experiencing faster aging may benefit more from nutritional interventions.
Dr. Howard Sesso, senior author of the study and associate director of the Division of Preventive Medicine at Mass General Brigham, said the research helps open the door to safer and more accessible ways of supporting healthy aging.
Researchers also pointed out that many people already take multivitamins regularly without knowing whether they provide measurable health benefits.
The new findings offer evidence that multivitamins may influence aging-related biological processes, although scientists stress that the results should be interpreted carefully.
The researchers emphasized that the study does not prove multivitamins can stop aging, reverse aging, or dramatically extend lifespan.
The observed slowing of biological aging was relatively modest, and much more research is needed to understand whether the effects translate into lower disease risk over the long term.
Researchers plan to continue studying whether the slowing of biological aging persists after the trial ends and whether it may help explain earlier findings from the COSMOS study linking multivitamins to better memory, lower cancer risk, and reduced cataracts.
Experts also note that healthy aging depends on many lifestyle factors working together.
A balanced diet, regular physical activity, good sleep, stress reduction, social engagement, and avoiding smoking all remain extremely important for long-term health.
Scientists say multivitamins should not replace healthy eating habits or medical treatment.
However, the study suggests that nutritional support may play a role in influencing biological aging, especially in older adults who may have nutritional gaps or increased health risks.
The researchers also highlight that randomized clinical trials like COSMOS provide stronger evidence than many observational studies because participants are randomly assigned to treatments.
Still, future long-term studies will be necessary to determine whether slowing biological aging through multivitamins leads to measurable improvements in lifespan or disease prevention.
Overall, the findings provide encouraging evidence that relatively simple daily habits may influence biological aging in measurable ways.
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.
