Daily multivitamin shows small, selective effects on epigenetic aging in COSMOS; cocoa extract does not
Mar 9th 2026
A COSMOS randomized substudy measured blood DNA methylation clocks and found that daily multivitamin–multimineral use led to small, clock dependent reductions in epigenetic age while cocoa extract showed no clear effect, but the clinical meaning of these shifts remains unresolved.
- Daily multivitamin–multimineral supplementation produced modest reductions on some DNA methylation based aging clocks compared with placebo.
- Cocoa extract supplementation did not produce consistent changes in epigenetic age across the tested clocks.
- Benefits were limited to select clocks and were larger in subgroups with higher baseline epigenetic age.
- Observed changes were small and their clinical significance for disease or lifespan is uncertain.
- Authors urge replication, longer follow up and cautious interpretation before using supplements as anti aging interventions.