Stephanie Venn-Watson studied longevity lengthy earlier than she realized it, she says. The veterinary epidemiologist was recruited by the U.S. Navy to handle growing older dolphins in 2001.
Venn-Watson deliberate to analysis the dolphins to get a greater understanding of infectious illnesses, however “as an alternative, in a short time pivoted to learning power illnesses and illnesses of growing older,” which she’s accomplished for greater than 20 years, she advised CNBC Make It in February.
Whereas dolphins within the wild sometimes stay to round 20 years outdated, Navy dolphins had been residing for much longer past the ages of 40 and 50, Venn-Watson says.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 power irritation, excessive ldl cholesterol and even modifications of their brains just like that of Alzheimer’s, others had been utterly wholesome in outdated age.
After analyzing hundreds of samples collected over the span of about 50 years, Venn-Watson and her group had been in a position to decide what the healthiest growing older 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 an alternative, it was C15:0, a saturated fatty acid I had by no means heard of,” she says.
Venn-Watson and her group found a brand new important fatty acid, C15:0, which like omega-3′s, can enhance well being outcomes in mammals. And further analysis by consultants exterior of her group 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 12 months.
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 referred to as “The Longevity Nutrient,” in March.
To up her consumption of the longevity nutrient in her personal weight loss program, Venn-Watson eats sure meals which might be excessive in C15:0.
This is the No. 1 meals she eats to get extra of the fatty acid.
‘I will have a cheese snack nearly every single day’
When Venn-Watson plans her meals, she at all times goals to maximise her consumption of C15:0. “Key methods I do which might be by means of grass-fed cheeses that come from grass-fed animals; these have among the highest C15:0 ranges,” she says.
Usually, it is her every day snack that helps her improve how a lot of the longevity nutrient she’s getting: “I will have a cheese snack nearly every single day.”
Pairing the grass-fed cheeses she eats with crackers helps her get one more important nutrient for her physique: fiber.
“We have additionally realized fiber has numerous significance. So, basic cheese and crackers (high-fiber crackers, so not those which might be chock stuffed with processed carbs),” Venn-Watson says.
“And pecorino, for instance, has among 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 loss program is excessive in fish. I most likely have fish every single 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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