Omega-3s and Aging

Lifestyle and nutritional interventions to prevent or reverse aging are hot topics nowadays. Research abounds, and a wide variety of products and services are available to help people feel younger. In some cases, the proposed mechanism(s) seem plausible, while in other cases the marketing efforts outweigh the underlying science. Add in the emerging field of epigenetics, where influences of nutrition, lifestyle, and possible dietary supplements can conceivably cause changes in our chromosomes (DNA), and we finally have a way to explain, if not evaluate, some of these claims. As with many other nutrients, omega-3 research can involve both aging and epigenetics.

Two weeks ago, the Wall Street Journal (online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703837004575013393566949312.html) featured the results from a study linking omega-3 levels in the blood to changes in the aging process. The study was published in JAMA, a well-known medical journal, and followed 608 people with stable coronary artery disease over five years, checking their blood DHA and EPA levels (the "marine" omega-3 fatty acids), and measuring the length of their DNA at the beginning and the end. As we age, the ends of DNA (called telomeres) gets deleted, so telomere length can be a crude measure of biological age; essentially, shorter telomeres mean that DNA is biologically older.

In this trial, the group of people with a higher level of omega-3s in the blood (presumably corresponding to a higher omega-3 intake), had longer telomeres and therefore were biologically younger. The researchers figured that this was due to antioxidant effects as well as effects on certain enzymes that helped to protect the DNA.

Another interesting thrust of the blossoming omega-3 research and one that beckons the question: further reason to eat Dr. Dave's Mega-O omega-3 enhanced chocolate?