Could a daily dose of Vitamin D help us maintain health and vitality as we age? New research suggests it just might.
A large U.S. trial has found that vitamin D supplements can help protect telomeres — the tiny protective caps at the ends of our chromosomes. Telomeres act like the plastic tips on shoelaces, stopping our DNA from fraying. As we age, these caps naturally get shorter, which makes our cells less able to divide and increases the risk of age-related diseases such as cancer and autoimmune conditions.
The findings come from the long-running VITAL trial, which followed thousands of older Americans over five years. In a sub-study of more than 1,000 participants, researchers compared those who took vitamin D3 (2,000 IU per day) with those who took a placebo.
The results were striking: people taking vitamin D had significantly less telomere shortening, effectively preventing the equivalent of nearly three years of ageing compared to the placebo group. Meanwhile, omega-3 supplements showed no effect on telomere length.
“Our findings suggest that targeted vitamin D supplementation may be a promising strategy to counter a biological aging process, although further research is warranted,” said Haidong Zhu, PhD, first author of the report and a molecular geneticist at the Medical College of Georgia, Augusta University.
While scientists stress that more studies are needed, the research points to a promising role for vitamin D in slowing biological ageing and supporting healthier ageing overall.
This isn’t the only way vitamin D may support healthy ageing. Researchers recently discovered that it can also reduce the risk of dynapenia in older adults by 70 per cent.
Dynapenia is the loss of muscle strength associated with old age and can be a major risk factor for falls in older age. As part of the Are Serum 25-Hydroxyvitamin D Deficiency and Insufficiency Risk Factors for the Incidence of Dynapenia? study, researchers looked at the impact of Vitamin D on preventing such strength loss.
Last author of the study, Professor of Gerontology at USFCar, Tiago da Silva Alexandre explained that “Vitamin D is known to participate in various functions of the organism.”
“Actually, it’s a hormone and its many roles include helping to repair muscles and releasing calcium for muscle contraction kinetics. It was therefore expected to cause muscle alterations of some kind. That’s exactly what our study proved,” Alexandre said.
As part of the study, researchers analysed data for 3,205 non-dynapenic individuals aged 50 and over who were followed for four years by the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA).
Participants’ grip strength was measured at 26 kg or more for men and 16 kg or more for women.
Researchers found that individuals with vitamin D deficiency, defined as less than 30 nanomoles per litre in the blood, had a 70 per cent greater risk of developing dynapenia by the conclusion of the four-year study period than those with normal levels of vitamin D, defined as more than 50 nmol/L.
“The results proved that the risk of muscle weakness is heightened by both vitamin D deficiency and insufficiency,” Alexandre said.
Taken together, these studies highlight vitamin D’s growing reputation as a nutrient with powerful benefits for healthy ageing — from protecting our DNA to maintaining strength and independence.
IMPORTANT LEGAL INFO This article is of a general nature and FYI only, because it doesn’t take into account your personal health requirements or existing medical conditions. That means it’s not personalised health advice and shouldn’t be relied upon as if it is. Before making a health-related decision, you should work out if the info is appropriate for your situation and get professional medical advice.
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