Multivitamin May Help Keep You Young

The newest way to look at aging is at the cellular level. Specifically researchers are learning more about DNA and how it changes when your cells divide.

Each DNA strand has a sort of cap on it called a telomere. The telomeres protect the DNA from damage. However, when your cells divide, the telomeres get a little shorter each time. Over time, doctors believe that shrinking telomeres can leave your DNA vulnerable to chronic diseases and aging.

Naturally, a lot of people doing medical research are very interested in steps you can take to keep your telomeres longer as you age.

In a recent study, researchers found that multivitamins might play a useful role.

People who take a multivitamin on a regular basis are less likely to have short telomeres. On average, the telomeres of people who took a multivitamin were 5.1% longer than those who did not. In terms of cellular aging, that’s almost ten years… an impressive gain.

The research in this field is preliminary. The doctors aren’t sure if other lifestyle factors influenced the outcome. It may be that people most likely to take a multivitamin are also more likely to make other healthy choices that help to protect their telomeres.

Still, this research supports that taking a good multivitamin, one with the antioxidants vitamin E and C and with vitamin D3 and with minerals like zinc and calcium is part of a healthy lifestyle that may help your body to deal better with getting older.

And who doesn’t want that?

Stay well,
Danny Wallace