Stephanie Venn-Watson studied longevity lengthy sooner than she learned it, she says. The veterinary epidemiologist was once recruited via the U.S. Navy to deal with ageing dolphins in 2001.
Venn-Watson deliberate to analyze the dolphins to get a greater working out of infectious sicknesses, however “instead, very quickly pivoted to studying chronic diseases and diseases of aging,” which she’s completed for greater than 20 years, she informed CNBC Make It in February.
While dolphins within the wild in most cases reside to round 20 years previous, Navy dolphins had been dwelling for much longer past the ages of 40 and 50, Venn-Watson says. Though some dolphins had been growing stipulations like continual irritation, top ldl cholesterol or even adjustments of their brains very similar to that of Alzheimer’s, others had been totally wholesome in previous age.
After examining hundreds of samples gathered over the span of about 50 years, Venn-Watson and her group had been in a position to resolve what the healthiest ageing dolphins had in not unusual. “We thought it was going to be omega-3′s, because all they eat are fish. And instead, it was C15:0, a saturated fatty acid I had never heard of,” she says.
Venn-Watson and her group found out a brand new crucial fatty acid, C15:0, which like omega-3′s, can strengthen well being results in mammals. And further analysis via mavens outdoor of her group have supported this declare. Their discovery marks the “first essential fatty acid to be found in more than ninety years,” a discovering which earned Venn-Watson a place on CNBC’s 2025 Changemakers List previous this yr.
With her husband, a Navy doctor, Venn-Watson began Seraphina Therapeutics, and evolved a C15:0 complement for people. She additionally printed a e book about her findings known as “The Longevity Nutrient,” in March.
To up her consumption of the longevity nutrient in her personal nutrition, Venn-Watson eats positive meals which can be top in C15:0.
Here’s the No. 1 meals she eats to get extra of the fatty acid.
‘I’ll have a cheese snack virtually on a daily basis’
When Venn-Watson plans her foods, she all the time objectives to maximise her consumption of C15:0. “Key ways I do that are through grass-fed cheeses that come from grass-fed animals; those have some of the highest C15:0 levels,” she says.
Often, it is her day by day snack that is helping her building up how a lot of the longevity nutrient she’s getting: “I’ll have a cheese snack almost every day.”
Pairing the grass-fed cheeses she eats with crackers is helping her get but every other important nutrient for her frame: fiber.
“We’ve also learned fiber has a lot of importance. So, classic cheese and crackers (high-fiber crackers, so not the ones that are chock full of processed carbs),” Venn-Watson says.
“And pecorino, for example, has some of the highest nutritious content, including C15:0.”
And despite the fact that she found out a brand new crucial fatty acid, she nonetheless prioritizes the tried-and-true fatty acids like omega-3s. “My diet is high in fish. I probably have fish every day and dairy fat,” she says.
In addition to the meals she eats, Venn-Watson is going the additional mile to strengthen her well being via taking positive nutrients: “I supplement with what the Navy invested 10 years in making, which is the pure C15:0 supplement.”
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