Can fish oil slow aging?
Individual and additive effects of vitamin D, omega-3 and exercise on DNA methylation clocks of biological aging in older adults from the DO-HEALTH trial
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Surprising Findings
Vitamin D and home exercise had zero measurable effect on epigenetic aging clocks over 3 years.
Public health messaging heavily promotes vitamin D and exercise as anti-aging pillars—this large, rigorous trial found no molecular aging benefit from either, despite proven benefits for falls, infections, and cancer.
Practical Takeaways
If you're over 70 and your omega-3 blood levels are low (<100 ng/mL), take 1g of fish oil daily (330mg EPA + 660mg DHA) to potentially slow biological aging by 3–4 months over 3 years.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Surprising Findings
Vitamin D and home exercise had zero measurable effect on epigenetic aging clocks over 3 years.
Public health messaging heavily promotes vitamin D and exercise as anti-aging pillars—this large, rigorous trial found no molecular aging benefit from either, despite proven benefits for falls, infections, and cancer.
Practical Takeaways
If you're over 70 and your omega-3 blood levels are low (<100 ng/mL), take 1g of fish oil daily (330mg EPA + 660mg DHA) to potentially slow biological aging by 3–4 months over 3 years.
Publication
Journal
Nature Aging
Year
2025
Authors
Heike A. Bischoff-Ferrari, S. Gängler, Maud Wieczorek, D. Belsky, Joanne Ryan, R. Kressig, H. B. Stähelin, Robert Theiler, B. Dawson-Hughes, René Rizzoli, Bruno Vellas, L. Rouch, S. Guyonnet, A. Egli, E. Orav, Walter C. Willett, S. Horvath
Related Content
Claims (6)
Taking a daily omega-3 supplement for three years might help slow down how fast your body ages at the cellular level, making you biologically younger by a few months compared to people who don’t take it.
Taking omega-3 supplements for three years may help lower certain biological markers in the blood that are tied to aging and death risk, like those related to inflammation and tissue repair, by a small but measurable amount.
If you're older and your vitamin D is high but your omega-3 levels are low, taking omega-3 supplements might slow down aging more than if your levels were already good. Your body’s starting nutrition seems to affect how well omega-3 works.
Taking a daily omega-3 supplement might help your body age more slowly, making you biologically 3 to 4 months younger after three years compared to not taking it.
Taking omega-3 supplements, vitamin D pills, and doing light exercise at home three times a week for three years might slow down how fast your body ages—by about 3.8 months—compared to not doing any of these things.