DAILY multivitamin supplementation may slow biological ageing, a 2026 study has found.
Daily Multivitamins and Biological Ageing
An estimated 50% of the global disease burden among adults has been attributed to ageing-related disease.
Biological ageing is characterised by a gradual and progressive functional decline in the body’s system integrity, which varies considerably across different populations.
Large-scale randomised trials have found that daily multivitamin-multimineral supplements and cocoa flavanols may benefit a variety of age-related chronic conditions.
However, their direct effect on the biological ageing process has previously been unclear.
The COSMO Study
The prespecified ancillary study analysed the effect of 2 years’ worth of taking daily multivitamins on several markers of biological ageing.
Nearly 1,000 participants from the COcoa Supplement and Multivitamin Outcomes (COSMO) Study were included.
The mean age was approximately 70-years-old, around half of participants were women and nearly 90% were White.
Participants were then split into groups, assigned to receive either: cocoa extract and multivitamin, cocoa extract placebo and multivitamin, cocoa extract and multivitamin placebo, or two placebo supplements daily.
Daily Multivitamin Intake Slowed Epigenetic Clocks
Daily multivitamin supplementation reduced the rate of increase of second-generation epigenetic clocks when compared with placebo.
Epigenetic ageing refers to the process by which biochemical processes influence gene expression without altering the DNA sequence.
Researchers emphasised that, whilst the protective effect on delaying biological ageing of 2 years of multivitamin supplementation was small, it was nonetheless statistically significant.
Participants with a higher biological ageing at baseline may benefit more from daily multivitamin use, the study found, suggesting greater protection among the relevant demographic.
However, cocoa extract did not influence the five epigenetic clocks analysed.
Implications for Healthy Living
Daily multivitamin use is a safe, readily accessible, and low-cost intervention that may slow epigenetic ageing among older adults, researchers reported.
The effects seen in biological markers observed aligned with health benefits of multivitamins established in earlier clinical trials.
Researchers noted the need for further studies to investigate whether the same anti-ageing benefits can be seen across the lifespan, not just in older adults.
References
Li S et al. Effects of daily-multivitamin-multimineral and cocoa extract supplementation on epigenetic aging clocks in the COSMOS randomized clinical trial. Nat Med. 2026;DOI:10.1038/s41591-026-04239-3.
Ciaglia E et al. The genetic and epigenetic arms of human ageing and longevity. Biology (Basel). 2025;14(1):92.
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