{"id":538513,"date":"2026-03-15T18:44:09","date_gmt":"2026-03-15T18:44:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/538513\/"},"modified":"2026-03-15T18:44:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-15T18:44:09","slug":"the-25p-supermarket-pill-that-slows-down-ageing-in-over-70s","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/538513\/","title":{"rendered":"The 25p supermarket pill that ‘slows down ageing’ in over 70s"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Close<\/p>\n

A study suggested one pill may ‘slow down ageing’ (Image: Getty)<\/p>\n

One affordable 25p pill found in most pharmacies may slow down biological ageing among people over 70 years old<\/a>, according to a healthcare study.<\/p>\n

Mass General Brigham, a US healthcare provider, evaluated the effects of taking a daily Centrum Silver multivitamin<\/a> over two years. After assessing five measures of biological ageing, which reflects how well the body is functioning rather than simply how old someone is, it found a slowdown equivalent to about four months. \u201cThis study opens the door to learning more about accessible, safe interventions that contribute to healthier, higher-quality ageing,”<\/a> said Dr Howard Sesso, associate director of preventive medicine in the Mass General Brigham Department of Medicine in New England, US.<\/p>\n

READ MORE: Just 1 daily multivitamin enough to slow biological ageing, study says <\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE: Radio 2’s Sara Cox says ‘thank heavens’ for 77p-a-day tablet for energy <\/a><\/p>\n

The multivitamin is targeted at older adults and contains a range of nutrients, including B vitamins and lycopene for heart health, zinc to support brain function, and vitamins A, C and E to help maintain a healthy immune system.<\/p>\n

Scientists analysed the effects of this multivitamin compared with a placebo or a daily cocoa extract by examining DNA from blood samples of 958 healthy participants with an average chronological age of 70, randomly selected from the Cocoa Supplement and Multivitamin Outcomes Study.<\/p>\n

They found that participants in the multivitamin group aged more slowly compared with those taking only placebos, with DNA changes suggesting about four months less biological ageing over the two-year trial.<\/p>\n

Those who were biologically older than their chronological age at the start appeared to benefit the most.<\/p>\n

Researchers did not overtly recommend that older adults begin taking multivitamins, but they said there was growing evidence they may help lower cancer risk, improve cognition and support eyesight.<\/p>\n

“A daily multivitamin is safe and well tolerated,” said Dr Howard Sesso. “This does not mean that everyone should take a multivitamin, but that, in consultation with your healthcare provider, it could complement a healthy diet and lifestyle.<\/p>\n

“Avoid customised, costly speciality multivitamins<\/a> and keep it simple and broad-based if you take one.”<\/p>\n

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\"Herbal<\/p>\n

The multivitamin is targeted at older adults (Image: Getty)<\/p>\n

A 30-pack Centrum Women 50+ Multivitamins & Minerals costs \u00a37.60 at Boots currently, making each pill 25p.<\/p>\n

Dr Laura Sinclair, a healthcare lecturer<\/a> and postdoctoral researcher at University of Exeter, said supplements may be most useful for people with nutrient deficiencies.<\/p>\n

“This study doesn\u2019t recommend going out and buying supplements,\u201d she said. \u201cIf someone eats a nutritionally balanced diet, many dietary supplements would probably be unnecessary.<\/p>\n

“However, most adults are not eating a nutritionally balanced diet and so probably would benefit from a multivitamin-multimineral.”<\/p>\n

Lifestyle and environmental factors can influence biological ageing. Habits such as smoking, poor diet and lack of exercise may accelerate biological ageing, while healthier behaviours can help slow it down.<\/p>\n

The researchers now plan to investigate whether the improvements in biological ageing lead to fewer diseases and longer lifespans. Their findings were published in the journal Nature Medicine.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A study suggested one pill may ‘slow down ageing’ (Image: Getty) One affordable 25p pill found in most…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":538514,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[209493,49,48,210460,84,392,210461,186998,7340,398],"class_list":["post-538513","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-healthcare","tag-biological-ageing","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-centrum-silver","tag-health","tag-healthcare","tag-mass-general-brigham-study","tag-multivitamins","tag-supplements","tag-vitamins"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/538513","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=538513"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/538513\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/538514"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=538513"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=538513"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=538513"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}