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Daily Multivitamin Linked to Slightly Slower Biological Aging in 2-Year COSMOS Trial

Measured on DNA methylation clocks linked to mortality risk, the small change has unclear clinical meaning.

Overview

  • An analysis of 958 older adults in the COSMOS randomized trial found about four months less biological aging over 24 months with a daily multivitamin versus placebo.
  • Significant effects appeared on two mortality-associated epigenetic clocks—PCGrimAge (~1.4 months) and PCPhenoAge (~2.6 months)—with no statistically reliable changes on three others.
  • Participants who started the trial with accelerated biological aging experienced larger slowing on these measures.
  • Cocoa extract produced no effect on any of the five epigenetic aging measures tested.
  • Investigators and outside experts emphasize the modest, biomarker-only signal, limited generalizability of a mostly white, healthy sample, disclosed industry support from Mars Edge and Haleon, and plans to assess persistence and links to clinical outcomes.