VitaminD & Ageing

Does Vitamin D help the 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.

Genetics and Vitamin D

Your genes encode for a variety of predispositions and traits, such as your ability to process and absorb vitamins such as vitamin D.

Vitamin D does not exert its effect due to it simply being present within the blood, which seems to be a popular misconception amongst most people.

Active vitamin D is synthesised firstly in the skin from a cholesterol precursor. The next stage is synthesis of the circulating molecule, 25 hydroxy vitamin D in the liver, followed by 1,25 hydroxylation in the kidney which then exerts its effect through the vitamin D receptors (VDRs).

Vitamin D is not like other vitamins, which can predominantly be obtained by food sources. This is why getting your supplementation and nutrigenomic interventions right is critical in optimising the uptake of this crucial vitamin.