FoodFacts.com was happy to read new research information today regarding omega-3 fatty acids. It’s been known for a while that these essential fatty acids are important in maintaining a healthy lifestyle. But this new study shows other valuable and fascinating benefits.

There’s now evidence that increasing the consumption of omega-3 fatty acids can actually slow down the aging process. New research that focused on over one hundred obese, inactive adults were split into three groups. The first group was given a placebo, another was given a supplement containing 2.5 grams of omega-3 fatty acids. The other received a supplement with 1.25 grams of omega-3s.

The purpose behind the supplements was to study the effect of they would have on pieces of DNA called telomeres. Telomeres shorten with age and because of this play an important role in the aging process. These are what keep the strands of our DNA from unraveling and also help our cells to divide. When telomeres become too short, it can lead to cell inactivity or death. People over the age of 60 are actually three times more likely to die from heart disease if they haven shortened telomeres.

The results turned out to be quite revealing. It was found that the telomeres in the study participants who improved the ration of omega-3s to the other fatty acids in their diet actually improved the length of their telomeres. The group taking the placebo did not experience the same lengthening.

This is considered especially exciting as there have been previous studies focusing on mice that showed that lengthening their telomeres reversed their aging process. This new research with human participants does suggest a real possibility that omega-3 nutritional supplements could actually make a difference in the way people age. In the study involving mice who were given gene therapy their brain size which had shrunk by as much as 75% returned to normal.

FoodFacts.com is always encouraged to learn about positive health effects that come from natural sources. Anything science can provide us involving how dietary improvements can help us make dramatic changes in the health of our population is an exciting preview into the future.

Read more about this intriguing research:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/03/omega-3-supplements_n_1932903.html