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Stephanie Venn-Watson studied longevity long before she realized it, she says. The veterinary epidemiologist was recruited by the U.S. Navy to take care of aging dolphins in 2001.
Venn-Watson planned to research the dolphins to get a better understanding of infectious diseases, but “instead, very quickly pivoted to studying chronic diseases and diseases of aging,” which she’s done for more than 20 years, she told CNBC Make It in February.
While dolphins in the wild typically live to around 20 years old, Navy dolphins were living much longer beyond the ages of 40 and 50, Venn-Watson says. Though some dolphins were developing conditions like chronic inflammation, high cholesterol and even changes in their brains similar to that of Alzheimer’s, others were completely healthy in old age.
After analyzing thousands of samples collected over the span of about 50 years, Venn-Watson and her team were able to determine what the healthiest aging dolphins had in common. “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 team discovered a new essential fatty acid, C15:0, which like omega-3′s, can improve health outcomes in mammals. And additional research by experts outside of her team have supported this claim. Their discovery marks the “first essential fatty acid to be found in more than ninety years,” a finding which earned Venn-Watson a spot on CNBC’s 2025 Changemakers List earlier this year.
With her husband, a Navy physician, Venn-Watson started Seraphina Therapeutics, and developed a C15:0 supplement for humans. She also published a book about her findings called “The Longevity Nutrient,” in March.
To up her intake of the longevity nutrient in her own diet, Venn-Watson eats certain foods that are high in C15:0.
Here’s the No. 1 food she eats to get more of the fatty acid.
‘I’ll have a cheese snack almost every day’
When Venn-Watson plans her meals, she always aims to maximize her intake 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’s her daily snack that helps her increase how much 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 helps her get yet another vital nutrient for her body: 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 though she discovered a new essential fatty acid, she still 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 food she eats, Venn-Watson goes the extra mile to improve her health by taking certain vitamins: “I supplement with what the Navy invested 10 years in making, which is the pure C15:0 supplement.”
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