Daily multivitamin could slow biological clock and lead to ‘healthier ageing’, study suggests

Taking a daily multivitamin could slow down the body’s biological clock and lead to a “healthier” ageing process, a new study has suggested.

Researchers calculated that taking a multivitamin every day for two years could cut ageing by about four months.

That means a person has aged less in terms of health and function, rather than the number of years they have lived.

People take multivitamins to support their immune system, energy levels and for general nutrition. But previous studies on the use of multivitamins and health have yielded mixed results: one 2024 study found no benefit in preventing early death, while others suggest they may have some effect.

While many experts support this research, they also believe taking a multivitamin is no better than eating a healthy, varied diet rich in fruit and vegetables.

“A lot of people take a multivitamin without necessarily knowing any benefits from taking it, so the more we can learn about its potential health benefits, the better,” said lead author Dr Howard Sesso, associate director of the division of preventive medicine at the Mass General Brigham Department of Medicine in the US.

“This study opens the door to learning more about accessible, safe interventions that contribute to healthier, higher-quality ageing.”

The study, published in the journal Nature Medicine, looked at biological ageing based on tiny changes to DNA.

The blood samples of 958 randomly selected healthy people with an average chronological age of 70 were examined for DNA sites which show ageing, known as “epigenetic clocks”.

Experts looked at five areas of DNA for changes at the start of the trial, and at the end of the first and second years.

They found that, compared with people taking dummy drugs, those in the multivitamin group had slowed in all five areas.

The changes equated to about four months less biological ageing over the course of two years.

Further studies are now being carried out to see if the effects are long-lasting.

Dr Laura Sinclair, lecturer in healthcare and postdoctoral researcher at the University of Exeter, said epigenetic clocks “are powerful tools to measure biological ageing, but they are only one piece of the ageing puzzle”.

She said things such as DNA damage, changes in proteins, and problems in cellular communication also play a role in ageing. She stressed that the study does not suggest everyone should be taking multivitamins daily.

“If a person eats a nutritionally balanced diet, then many dietary supplements would probably be superfluous to their individual requirements,” Dr Sinclair said.

“However, most adults in the UK are actually not eating a nutritionally balanced diet and so probably would benefit from a multivitamin-multimineral. Indeed, the UK government suggests that UK adults should consider a vitamin D supplement in autumn and winter.”

Professor Luigi Fontana, from the University of Sydney and a director of the healthy longevity research, said: “This is a well-conducted trial, but the interpretation of the findings needs to be cautious.”

She added: “The magnitude of the effect is extremely small, and the effect was not consistent across all the ageing measures tested.

“Overall, the findings are scientifically interesting, but they do not provide convincing evidence that taking a daily multivitamin meaningfully slows human ageing.”

The study received a grant from Mars Edge, a segment of Mars, which included the donation of multivitamins for the research.