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Our ‘body age’ can often be much older than our actual age – and scientists have finally hit on the key factor that may determine biological aging. They have discovered that people with higher levels of omega-3 fatty acid in their blood are younger biologically than their physical years. Omega-3, which is found in fatty fish but which can also be taken as a supplement, seems to have a protective effect against cellular aging, researchers at the University of California, San Francisco have found.

It’s already known that people who take omega-3 supplements survive longer, even when they have a heart problem, but the research team now think they are beginning to understand why. It’s all to do with telomeres, which are chromosome markers of cellular aging; if they begin to shorten, it’s an indication that our cells are getting old and are even dying. In a study of 608 patients with a heart condition, the researchers found that the heart patients who were living longer had higher levels of the fatty acid in their blood, and had longer telomere chromosomes. (Source: Journal of the American Medical Association, 2010; 303: 250-7).

Editor’s note: Be sure that your fish oil contains a pharmaceutical grade Omega 3. Shaklee Omega Guard uses the finest ultra-pure, pharmaceutical grade with a state of the art proprietary, triple molecular distillation process to insure that the process produces healthier fish oil by suppressing formation of dangerous trans fats. With this process the odor and fishy aftertaste are minimized