Vitamin D May Slow Cellular Aging

You Should Know: Vitamin D has a slew of benefits for our immune system, bones, muscles, mood, and more. A recent study is pointing to another reason to get more of the “sunshine vitamin”: It could slow down the aging process. 

Going Deeper: The study found taking vitamin D may be able to preserve telomere length, a biomarker of aging. Telomeres are protective caps on the end of chromosomes. Each time cells divide, telomeres shorten a little. Over time, they can get so short that cells can no longer repair and regenerate, and eventually die. Telomere shortening is common in age-related diseases, like dementia and cancer. 

Takeaway: Researchers studied more than 1,000 adults aged 65 and older, giving half 2,000 IU of vitamin D daily and the other half a placebo. Telomere lengths were measured at the beginning of the study, then again two and four years later. The vitamin D group maintained more telomeres than the placebo group — possibly due to D’s anti-inflammatory properties.

Bottom Line: More research is needed, and experts don’t agree on the proper dosage. (You can get too much.) But the basics — diet, exercise, sleep, stress management — are known ways to help keep telomeres intact.