Add Ons: What Nutritional Supplements Should You Be Considering?
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Add Ons: What Nutritional Supplements Should You Be Considering?
February 11, 2025
As we’ve noted in prior posts, the question of whether you should take a nutritional supplement beyond eating your regular diet very much depends on your personal health status, the medications you take, specific medical conditions you have, and your goal in wanting to take a supplement. If you’re eating a healthy, varied diet, exercising, getting good sleep, and following your doctor’s orders, it’s unlikely you need too much additional help. However, let’s make something clear: Your nutritional status, and whether taking a supplement is right for you, is always something to be discussed with your doctor or a nutritionist. Supplements can interact with existing medications or conditions, or elevate nutritional markers in unhelpful and even harmful ways. But since we’re not all following the best diet, exercising as we should, or getting sufficient sleep, with our doctor’s or nutritionist’s approval, many of us can perhaps use a little help from our (nutritional) friends.
For some general recommendations, you might consider the advice from Dr. Erik Verdin, CEO and President of the Buck Institute For Research On Aging. While acknowledging that lifestyle is the biggest component of determining healthy aging, Dr. Verdin also reveals that he takes 4 daily supplements: Vitamin D, B12, Creatine, and omega-3 fatty acids. To support his cognitive function and mobility, he takes these supplements due to the various boosts they can provide: Vitamin D is a reasonably safe and inexpensive supplement and is frequently deficient in older adults (have your doctor determine your Vitamin D levels with a blood test). Vitamin B12 is also commonly deficient in older adults and is key for the functioning of brain and nerve cells. Creatine is important for muscles and cognitive function. Omega-3 fatty acids play a critical role in brain and heart health. All of these are potentially available through a healthy diet, but it’s very possible your regular diet is not providing sufficient amounts of some or all of these. The website CNET also recently published a list of essential healthy aging vitamins and minerals to consider, according to experts, and that list added a few to Dr. Verdin’s list, including magnesium, calcium, and zinc.
Perhaps the biggest splash when it comes to taking supplements as an older adult is the news recently released about omega-3 fatty acids. In a just published research study in Nature Aging, researchers from Switzerland examined the anti-aging effects of omega-3 supplements, both alone and in combination with exercise and Vitamin D supplementation. Looking at biological aging at the molecular level in a participant panel of more than 700 people, aged 70 and above, over 3 years, the researchers found that taking 1 gram of omega-3 fatty acids daily could slow down biological aging by 3-4 months, and even better results could be obtained when that daily dose was supported with a daily dose of Vitamin D (2000 IU/day) and strength training exercise 3 times per week. As one researcher made clear, “This is the biggest trial we have today that hints that a supplement contributes to slow biological aging.” While a 3-4 months slow down in aging may not seem like a lot, at the age of 70 or above, many things can happen in that short period of time, so the results are potentially significant, though not conclusive. More research needs to be done to assess how this slowdown could translate into benefits for cognition, physical activity, or heart health.
Previous studies by these same researchers found tangible benefits with the combination of exercise, vitamin D, and omega-3s in reducing the risk of prefrailty and invasive cancer. However, the results of these studies do not automatically translate into the advice that omega-3 supplements should now be part of your daily routine. Again, this is information that needs to be discussed with your physician, as your own diet, along with your unique health profile, may or may not support omega-3 supplementation. But if you want to go to your doctor or nutritionist armed with good information about how omega-3s can potentially be of help, grab a glass of water and read here.