Can Omega-3 Slow Down Aging? What New Study Tells Us About Biological Age
Most people think of aging in terms of what they can see or feel: wrinkles, fatigue, slower recovery. But inside the body, aging is marked by subtle biological changes that don’t show up on routine blood tests. A recent study suggests that something as simple as taking an omega-3 supplement might help slow this process.
Here’s what the science shows—and what it could mean for your health.
What Was the Study About?
Researchers followed more than 2,000 healthy adults over age 70 in a study called DO-HEALTH. The trial tested three interventions:
Daily omega-3 supplements (1 gram)
Daily vitamin D3 (2,000 IU)
A simple home-based strength program (30 minutes, three times per week)
The original goal was to see if these strategies improved traditional measures of aging: mobility, memory, blood pressure, fractures, or infection risk. In that sense, the results were disappointing. The study found no meaningful differences between those who took the interventions and those who didn’t.
There are some reasons why this might have been the case:
Participants were already healthy and active. About 83% of the group reported moderate to high levels of physical activity at the start of the study. Many had near-perfect scores on tests of mobility and cognition, which made it harder to detect improvements.
Baseline vitamin D levels were often sufficient. Fewer than half the participants had vitamin D deficiency. Additionally, people in the placebo group were allowed to continue taking low-dose vitamin D (up to 800 IU daily), which could have diluted the effect of the intervention.
The effect sizes were small. Even when differences appeared, they were modest and didn’t meet the strict statistical threshold set by the researchers.
But researchers didn’t stop there. A subset of participants agreed to deeper testing, including an analysis of how their DNA was aging.
What Is Biological Age?
Your biological age is a measure of how old your body seems based on molecular markers, rather than the number of candles on your birthday cake. Scientists now estimate this using DNA methylation—chemical tags that help regulate which genes are turned on or off.
These tags shift over time, and their patterns offer a glimpse into how fast—or how well—your body is aging. This process is called epigenetics—it’s how your environment and daily choices influence how your genes are turned on or off, without changing the genes themselves.
This analysis is known as epigenetic aging, and it’s done using what researchers call “clocks.” These include:
PhenoAge, which reflects physical resilience and health
GrimAge, which estimates time to death based on inflammation and other blood markers
DunedinPACE, which measures how quickly the body is aging year by year
These clocks help researchers detect early shifts in health that might not yet be obvious.
What Did the New Study Show?
In a 2025 follow-up study published in Nature Aging, scientists analyzed DNA methylation patterns in 777 DO-HEALTH participants. They found that:
People who took omega-3 supplements daily aged more slowly on a cellular level—by about three to four months over three years.
Vitamin D and strength training alone didn’t change aging patterns in a significant way.
However, combining all three strategies—omega-3, vitamin D, and exercise—seemed to enhance the benefit, especially on one of the clocks (PhenoAge).
What Does This Mean for You?
Whenever possible, we encourage patients to get omega-3s and other key nutrients from food first—fatty fish like salmon are excellent animal-based sources, while walnuts offer a plant-based option.
These findings suggest that while omega-3s might not improve day-to-day function in healthy older adults, they could offer subtle protection beneath the surface.
Importantly, this study looked at people who were already active and relatively healthy. In other populations—those with lower baseline levels of vitamin D or omega-3s, or who are less physically active—the benefits might be even greater.
Aging Is Complex. So Is Prevention.
We start with nutrition. A whole-foods approach—rich in healthy fats, leafy greens, and protein—can lay the groundwork for long-term cellular health.
No single supplement or workout will stop the aging process. But this research reinforces something we talk about often at Ikigai Health Institute: prevention is about layering small, sustainable habits that work together.
Omega-3s are safe, accessible, and may provide biological benefits that routine labs miss.
Exercise and micronutrient support still matter, especially in combination.
New tools like biological age testing are helping us see progress in ways that traditional markers can’t capture.
Bottom Line
This study doesn’t claim to offer a silver bullet. But it does offer a quiet insight: aging happens in the background, and slowing it down may start with small choices—like what’s on your plate or even in your supplement drawer.
At Ikigai, we use evidence like this to support patients who want to stay strong, clear-headed, and independent for as long as possible. Because longevity isn’t just about years—it’s about the life in those years.
Sources
Bischoff-Ferrari, H.A., Gängler, S., Wieczorek, M. et al. 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. Nat Aging 5, 376–385 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43587-024-00793-y
