July 22, 20251 citationsOpen Access

Dietary Fatty Acids and Epigenetic Aging in US Adults: Results from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey

ABAnne K. BozackStanford Health Care DKDennis KhodasevichStanford University JNJamaji C. Nwanaji‐EnweremUniversity of Pennsylvania

Key Points

Higher saturated and monounsaturated fatty acids are linked to increased epigenetic aging biomarker GrimAge2.
Polyunsaturated fatty acids are associated with lower aging biomarkers such as Horvath1 and PhenoAge.
A one-unit increase in the polyunsaturated to saturated fat ratio correlates with 1.05 years lower PhenoAge.
Findings indicate varying impacts of different fatty acid types on epigenetic aging, warranting further investigation.

Abstract

Fatty acids are involved in disease risk and aging processes. In the US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (1999-2002), we tested for associations of total, saturated (SFA), monounsaturated (MUFA), polyunsaturated (PUFA), and subtypes of dietary fatty acids with DNA methylation-based aging biomarkers, adjusting for age, BMI, total energy intake, and sociodemographic and behavioral factors (N=2,260). Higher SFA and MUFA were associated with greater GrimAge2, an aging biomarker of mortality; PUFA was associated with lower Horvath1, Hannum, and PhenoAge (p<0.05). Omega-3 and the PUFA:SFA ratio were negatively associated with Horvath1, Hannum, Vidal-Bralo, and PhenoAge. Notably, a one-unit increase in PUFA:SFA was associated with 1.05 years lower PhenoAge (95% CI=-1.87, -0.22). There were consistent trends of positive associations of SFA subtypes and negative associations of PUFA subtypes with epigenetic aging; associations of MUFA subtypes varied. Future studies, including randomized controlled trials, are needed to investigate causality and downstream clinical outcomes.

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