The Fountain of Youth: Can vitamin D turn back the clock on aging?

“For centuries, humans have been on a quest to unlock the secrets of longevity and slow down the inevitable process of ageing.

While we may not have discovered the mythical Fountain of Youth just yet, researchers are uncovering fascinating insights into how certain nutrients, like vitamin D , could potentially influence the biological mechanisms of ageing.

Vitamin D , often referred to as the “sunshine vitamin” because our bodies can produce it when exposed to sunlight, is well-known for its crucial role in maintaining strong bones and a healthy immune system.

However, a recent review published in the journal Nutrients suggests that this versatile nutrient may also play a role in modulating the “hallmarks of ageing” – a set of key biological processes that contribute to age-related decline and disease.

This is where vitamin D comes in. The authors of the Nutrients review, led by Dr. Carmelinda Ruggiero from the University of Perugia in Italy, propose that vitamin D could potentially target multiple hallmarks of ageing simultaneously, thanks to its wide-ranging effects on various tissues and organ systems”.

https://studyfinds.org/vitamin-d-youth-aging/

Does Vitamin D help the Epigenetic Ageing process?

Over the course of the last 7 years Muhdo Health have identified key nutrients such as vitamin D and lifestyle interventions from 1000’s of time-stamped and series epigenetic samples, as well as real-time health and fitness data which have shown clear correlations for their positive effect on reducing biological age.

From the epigenetic data that we have seen, vitamin D3 intake was correlated with superior biological age scores. Individuals had either stable biological ages or reduced ages.

Research is clearly demonstrating the importance of vitamin D on our health, such as with the enhancement and regulation of the innate immune response, which is our first line of defence against bacteria, viruses , and infection.

Unfortunately, vitamin D deficiency affects almost 50% of the world’s population. Factors contributing to this include lifestyle factors, such as reduced outdoor activities, old age , obesity, darker skin, living in northern hemisphere, air pollution , poor dietary choices , and genetic factors.

Some studies suggest that around 900 genes, or 1/24 of your entire genome may be at least partially regulated by vitamin D , which is found in every cell in the body and exerts its effect on target tissue such as bone, immune, skin, nervous, endothelial, hair follicle etc via the vitamin D receptor.

The research is also demonstrating that many of the clinical effects of vitamin D are due to the impact of it on the inflammatory genes and the immune- regulating role of the pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines.