A large clinical trial conducted in the United States has confirmed, for the first time, that taking a simple daily supplement can reduce your biological age by several years.
This common supplement is widely taken in winter when it’s harder to get sunlight. It provides a vitamin essential for bone health, immunity, nerve transmission, blood clotting, and hormone regulation. But a new study suggests it might be even more powerful than previously thought.
Can you guess which supplement it is? It’s vitamin D. Researchers from Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston have shown that daily vitamin D supplementation acts at the cellular level and positively affects our biological age, reflecting the actual health of our organs and physiological functions.
Over 1,000 Participants Followed for 4 Years
To test this, researchers recruited 26,000 men and women over 50 for a clinical trial called Vital, for The VITamin D and OmegA-3 TriaL. The goal was to measure the effects of vitamin D and omega-3s on various health biomarkers. Within this group, a sub-group of 1,054 participants, known as Vital Telomer, was specifically created to study the impact of supplementation on telomeres.
Telomeres are regions at the ends of chromosomes that help maintain chromosome stability and influence cell aging. As we age, telomeres shorten. Short telomeres are associated with age-related degenerative diseases and can shorten lifespan.
Longer Telomeres in Those Taking the Supplement
The participants in the Vital Telomer group were followed for four years. Researchers measured the telomere length of their white blood cells at the start, after two years, and at the end of the study.
Published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, the results showed that participants who took 2,000 IU of vitamin D3 daily had telomeres that were, on average, 140 base pairs longer than those who received a placebo. This corresponds to almost a three-year gain in biological age. Interestingly, omega-3s had no impact on telomeres.
Dr. JoAnn Manson, the lead researcher, said, “Vital is the first large-scale, long-term randomized trial to show that vitamin D supplements protect telomeres and preserve their length. This is particularly significant because Vital also showed that vitamin D reduces inflammation and lowers the risks of certain chronic diseases related to aging, such as advanced cancers and autoimmune diseases.”
Why This Study is Important
Previous studies on the effects of vitamin D on telomeres produced mixed results. One reason was that these studies lacked rigorous methods and were conducted over short periods. With this large-scale, long-term randomized trial, scientists have provided solid evidence supporting the benefits of vitamin D3 supplementation.
According to the SU.VI.MAX study, over half of the French population is vitamin D deficient (less than 20 ng/ml), and about 15% are severely deficient (
Getting 15 to 20 minutes of sunlight per day is generally enough, but it may not be sufficient. Vitamin D3 is also found in fatty fish (cod, herring, sardines, trout, salmon, tuna), eggs, and full-fat dairy products. However, supplements are often necessary.
The best way to check is to consult your doctor, who can recommend a blood test to determine if supplementation is needed.
