Scientists have discovered that vitamin D slows down aging

According to a new study, vitamin D in the form of dietary supplements can slow down the aging process at the cellular level, preventing the shortening of telomeres - special DNA sequences that naturally shorten with age.

The scientific work represents a thorough analysis of data from the large-scale VITamin D and OmegA-3 TriaL (VITAL) project. As part of this study, scientists recruited about 26 thousand participants - women over 55 years old and men over 50 years old. Participants were randomly assigned to groups taking vitamin D supplements, fish oil, a combination of both substances, or a placebo.

In the new study, the results of which were published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, scientists focused on a subgroup of 1054 participants living in relative proximity to Harvard's Center for Clinical and Translational Science in Boston. These volunteers gave blood samples three times over a four-year period, allowing researchers to assess the condition of their telomeres.

Telomeres are repetitive DNA sequences that protect the ends of chromosomes. When telomeres critically shorten, cells lose their ability to divide and die. As the number of dying cells increases, the body undergoes the aging process.

At the start of the study, telomere length in participants from the placebo and active supplement groups was identical. However, over four years of observations, people who took 2000 international units of vitamin D daily showed significantly less telomere shortening compared to the placebo group. Notably, fish oil intake did not show a statistically significant effect.

At the beginning of the study, the average length of DNA telomeres in participants was 8700 base pairs. Regular intake of vitamin D helped slow the reduction of telomeres by approximately 140 base pairs over the four-year observation period.