Multivitamins may help you live longer

Added 26.05.2009

Here's a reason to remember to take your daily multivitamins: a study says they may help you live longer.

Shortening of DNA ends linked to rate of aging

DNA strands make up chromosomes at the end of which are telomeres, areas of repeat DNA sequences that serve the purpose of protecting the chromosomes from damage. In essence, telomeres prevent chromosomes and their DNA from duplicating all the way to their ends during cell division, which would otherwise lead to the loss of the ends of chromosomes and the information contained in it. As biologist and researcher of telomeres, Elizabeth Blackburn explains, a telomere is like the plastic tip on the end of shoelaces that prevents the laces from unraveling at the ends.

Why is this important?

Throughout our lives, our cells are continuously dividing and new ones are created. In order to keep the same genetic information (this never changes in our lifetime), our chromosomes along with their DNA get duplicated in each cell. Now, with every cell division, telomeres get progressively shorter, which researchers believe determines aging. Inevitably, our telomeres will shorten with age, but it is the rate at which they shorten that seems to be linked to how fast we age. In other words, the slower the shortening of telomeres, the slower we age.

Multivitamins help to slow down telomere shortening

So now for the really good news: a study conducted this year shows that taking multivitamins every day may help you live longer by slowing down the rate of telomere shortening.

Laboratory studies show that telomeres are very vulnerable to oxidative stress caused by free radicals and this makes shortening much faster. This would explain why people with higher levels of oxidative stress are more prone to chronic disease and generally have shorter life spans. Researchers believe that vitamins, especially the ones with antioxidant properties like vitamins C and E, can slow down telomere shortening by counteracting oxidative stress and chronic inflammation. You really should have listened to your mother when she insisted that you take your multivitamins! But not all multivitamins are the same; here are some things to look out for in a multivitamin supplement:

• The purity of ingredients, concentration of active substances, dose and the bioavailability (how much is actually absorbed by your body) are decisive factors for the effect of multivitamin supplements. Also, make sure the micronutrients are in natural, bioavailable forms rather than synthetic forms.
• A multivitamin supplement should contain only vitamins and not include minerals (vitamins should be taken in the morning and minerals in the evening). This is because some vitamins can reduce the absorption of some minerals by the body and vice versa.
• It is important that you take multivitamins every day for them to work effectively.

References:

Dr. Bo Nielsen's comments:

We have known for many years that taking quality vitamin and mineral supplements every day, in the correct dose, can prevent many diseases, enhance your quality of life and even prolong your life. However, we have not had a clear and detailed understanding of how these natural supplements can prolong life. This epidemiologic study is the first ever to provide evidence that multivitamin use is associated with longer telomere length among women. Longer telomeres are one of the mechanisms that explains why taking a quality multivitamin supplement in the correct dose can help you live longer.