Stephanie Venn-Watson studied longevity lengthy earlier than she realized it, she says. The veterinary epidemiologist was recruited by the U.S. Navy to maintain growing old dolphins in 2001.
Venn-Watson deliberate to analysis the dolphins to get a greater understanding of infectious ailments, however “as a substitute, in a short time pivoted to learning continual ailments and ailments of growing old,” which she’s accomplished for greater than 20 years, she informed CNBC Make It in February.
Whereas dolphins within the wild usually stay to round 20 years previous, Navy dolphins had been residing for much longer past the ages of 40 and 50, Venn-Watson says. Although some dolphins had been growing circumstances like continual irritation, excessive ldl cholesterol and even adjustments of their brains much like that of Alzheimer’s, others had been fully wholesome in previous age.
After analyzing hundreds of samples collected over the span of about 50 years, Venn-Watson and her staff had been capable of decide what the healthiest growing old dolphins had in frequent. “We thought it was going to be omega-3′s, as a result of all they eat are fish. And as a substitute, it was C15:0, a saturated fatty acid I had by no means heard of,” she says.
Venn-Watson and her staff found a brand new important fatty acid, C15:0, which like omega-3′s, can enhance well being outcomes in mammals. And extra analysis by specialists outdoors of her staff have supported this declare. Their discovery marks the “first important fatty acid to be discovered in additional than ninety years,” a discovering which earned Venn-Watson a spot on CNBC’s 2025 Changemakers Record earlier this yr.
Together with her husband, a Navy doctor, Venn-Watson began Seraphina Therapeutics, and developed a C15:0 complement for people. She additionally revealed a e-book about her findings known as “The Longevity Nutrient,” in March.
To up her consumption of the longevity nutrient in her personal weight-reduction plan, Venn-Watson eats sure meals which are excessive in C15:0.
This is the No. 1 meals she eats to get extra of the fatty acid.
‘I am going to have a cheese snack virtually each day’
When Venn-Watson plans her meals, she at all times goals to maximise her consumption of C15:0. “Key methods I do which are by way of grass-fed cheeses that come from grass-fed animals; these have a number of the highest C15:0 ranges,” she says.
Usually, it is her day by day snack that helps her improve how a lot of the longevity nutrient she’s getting: “I am going to have a cheese snack virtually each day.”
Pairing the grass-fed cheeses she eats with crackers helps her get yet one more important nutrient for her physique: fiber.
“We have additionally realized fiber has lots of significance. So, traditional cheese and crackers (high-fiber crackers, so not those which are chock filled with processed carbs),” Venn-Watson says.
“And pecorino, for instance, has a number of the highest nutritious content material, together with C15:0.”
And although she found a brand new important fatty acid, she nonetheless prioritizes the tried-and-true fatty acids like omega-3s. “My weight-reduction plan is excessive in fish. I most likely have fish each day and dairy fats,” she says.
Along with the meals she eats, Venn-Watson goes the additional mile to enhance her well being by taking sure nutritional vitamins: “I complement with what the Navy invested 10 years in making, which is the pure C15:0 complement.”
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