Vitamin D may slow biological aging

 From SciTechDaily

A major clinical trial has uncovered compelling evidence that vitamin D supplementation helps preserve telomeres, the DNA structures that protect chromosomes and shorten with age. Credit: Shutterstock

Findings from the VITAL randomized controlled trial show that vitamin D supplementation can help preserve telomeres, the protective caps at the ends of chromosomes. These structures naturally shorten with age, a process linked to the onset of many health conditions.

The study, published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, draws on data from a VITAL sub-study led jointly by researchers at Mass General Brigham and the Medical College of Georgia. The results highlight vitamin D’s potential to slow one of the biological mechanisms associated with aging.

“VITAL is the first large-scale and long-term randomized trial to show that vitamin D supplements protect telomeres and preserve telomere length,” said co-author JoAnn Manson, MD, principal investigator of VITAL and chief of the Division of Preventive Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, a founding member of the Mass General Brigham healthcare system. “This is of particular interest because VITAL had also shown benefits of vitamin D in reducing inflammation and lowering risks of selected chronic diseases of aging, such as advanced cancer and autoimmune disease.”

Telomeres consist of repeating DNA sequences (base pairs) that serve as buffers, preventing chromosome ends from deteriorating or attaching to other chromosomes. Over time, telomeres naturally shorten, and this process has been strongly tied to a greater likelihood of developing age-related illnesses.

A few short-term, small-scale studies have suggested that vitamin D or omega 3 fatty acid supplementation may help support telomeres, but results have been inconsistent. VITAL is a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of vitamin D3 (2,000 IU/day) and omega-3 fatty acid (1 g/day) supplementation that tracked U.S. females aged 55 years and older and males aged 50 years and older for five years. The VITAL Telomere sub-study included 1,054 of these participants, whose telomere length in white blood cells was assessed at baseline and at Year 2 and Year 4.

Compared with taking a placebo, taking vitamin D3 supplements significantly reduced telomere shortening over four years, preventing the equivalent of nearly three years of aging compared with placebo. Omega-3 fatty acid supplementation had no significant effect on telomere length throughout follow-up.

“Our findings suggest that targeted vitamin D supplementation may be a promising strategy to counter a biological aging process, although further research is warranted,” said Haidong Zhu, PhD, first author of the report and a molecular geneticist at the Medical College of Georgia, Augusta University.

 

Reference: “Vitamin D3 and marine ω-3 fatty acids supplementation and leukocyte telomere length: 4-year findings from the VITamin D and OmegA-3 TriaL (VITAL) randomized controlled trial” by Haidong Zhu, JoAnn E Manson, Nancy R Cook, Bayu B Bekele, Li Chen, Kevin J Kane, Ying Huang, Wenjun Li, William Christen, I-Min Lee and Yanbin Dong, 21 May 2025, The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

DOI: 10.1016/j.ajcnut.2025.05.003

 

 

Daily omega-3 might delay the aging process

From the Guardian 

A daily dose of omega-3 oils may slow the aging process, according to a major clinical trial of interventions that aim to extend humans’ healthspan – the number of years spent in good health before a decline in old age.

Healthy older people who took one gram of the essential fatty acid for three years were found to have aged three months less than others on the trial, as measured by biological markers. Additional vitamin D and regular exercise boosted the effect to nearly four months, researchers found.

Heike Bischoff-Ferrari, the first author on the study and professor of geriatric medicine and healthy longevity at the University of Zurich, said: “While the effects may appear small with three to four months rejuvenation of biological age in three years, if sustained, they may have relevant effects on population health.”

Previous studies had hinted that omega-3, an unsaturated fatty acid found in oily fish and other foods such as nuts and seeds, could affect the ageing process. But whether humans would see any meaningful benefits from consuming it was unclear.

The researchers used biological tools called epigenetic clocks to assess how rates of ageing were affected in a clinical trial involving nearly 800 people aged 70 and over in Switzerland. Epigenetic clocks measure DNA methylation, chemical modifications that build up on DNA and reflect the biological rather than the chronological age of the tissue.

Volunteers on the trial were divided into eight groups and each took a gram of algae-based omega-3 a day, or 2,000 international units of vitamin D, or performed 30 minutes of exercise three times a week, or a combination of these.

Three different epigenetic clocks suggested that omega-3 slowed ageing, while one found an additional benefit when it was accompanied by vitamin D and exercise, the authors write in Nature Aging.

The same European trial, Do-Health, has reported other beneficial effects of omega-3, including a 10% lower rate of falls in seniors and 13% fewer infections. Meanwhile, the combination of omega-3, vitamin D and exercise lowered the risk of entering pre-frailty – when people show one or two signs of physical or mental decline that typically precede frailty – by 39% and reduced invasive cancers by 61%.

The work raises the prospect of inexpensive and readily available ways to improve healthspan, which even if modest at the individual level could be valuable at the population scale. But the results are tentative and it is not yet clear whether any slowing in the ageing process translates to people living healthier for longer.

There are two categories of strokes: ischaemic and haemorrhagic.  The former are caused by a blockage in an artery (or, rarely) a vein.  The latter are caused by bleeding/breaking capillaries.   Because omega-3 supplements "thin the blood", they tend to reduce ischaemic (blockage) strokes, which make up 87% of all strokes, but may increase the risk of haemorrhagic (bleeding) strokes (13 % of all strokes)  The blockages tend to be caused by cholesterol plaque build-up, so if you're a meat eater, omega-3 oils improve your health.  As the article continues:

While previous work has signalled health benefits from consuming omega-3, one recent study reported that fish oil supplements might only reduce the risk of serious heart problems in those with cardiovascular disease. For healthy people, the supplements may raise the risk of heart conditions or stroke. The NHS does not recommend omega-3 supplements but advises people to eat two portions of fish per week, or the equivalent from a vegetarian source, to get enough of the essential fatty acid.

If you have a low risk of heart disease, as I do, being vegan, and take omega-3 oils, you should probably take 500-1000 mg a day of vitamin C with your omega-3 oils, as this vitamin is necessary for collagen synthesis, which is important for blood vessel integrity (a factor in haemorrhagic strokes).  Unfortunately, although freshly picked vegetables and fruit have high vitamin C content, it immediately starts decaying as soon as they're harvested.  Hence the need for supplemental vitamin C. 

Collagen, which is necessary to blood vessel health, is made from proteins you eat, so if you are vegan, you should also make sure you have enough protein.   Good protein sources are from soy products (soy milk, tofu, tempe, etc.), pulses/beans, and nuts and seeds (preferably raw, so the omega-3 oils in them aren't degraded).   Also, you should keep your omega-3 oil supplements in the fridge, as the chemical bonds in their molecules are easily broken by heat (and light, which is why they are sold in dark bottles).

Actually, even if you are a meat-eater, you too should take a vitamin C supplement. 

If you are on blood-thinners (for example, warfarin), it may be unwise to also take omega-3 oil supplements.  Check with your doctor.

Please note that you should check with your doctor before taking supplements.

Vitamin D and Covid severity

 From Business Insider

Israeli scientists said they found “striking” differences in the chances of getting seriously ill from COVID-19 when they compared patients who had sufficient vitamin D levels prior to contracting the disease, with those who didn’t.

A study published Thursday in research journal PLOS One found that about half of people who were vitamin D deficient before getting COVID-19 developed severe illness, compared to less than 10% of people who had sufficient levels of the vitamin in their blood.

We know vitamin D is vital for bone health, but its role in protecting against severe COVID-19 is less-well established.

The latest research was the first to examine vitamin D levels in individuals prior to them contracting COVID-19, the study authors said.

Dr. Amiel Dror, a study author and physician at the Galilee Medical Center, said of the findings: “We found it remarkable, and striking, to see the difference in the chances of becoming a severe patient when you are lacking in vitamin D compared to when you’re not,” per the Times of Israel.

The findings come from 253 people admitted to Galilee Medical Center in Nahariya, Israel between April 7, 2020 and February 4, 2021 – a period before the highly-infectious Omicron variant emerged.

Dror said the findings suggested vitamin D helped bolster the immune system to deal with viruses that attack the respiratory system.

“This is equally relevant for Omicron as it was for previous variants,” Dror said.

The research doesn’t prove vitamin D protects against COVID-19 and isn’t a green light to avoid vaccines and take vitamins instead. Vaccines cut the risk of Omicron hospitalization, particularly after a booster, by up to 90%, according to the UK Health Security Agency.

Most vitamin D comes from direct sunlight on the skin. It’s also found in foods such as fatty fish, mushrooms, and egg yolks as well as supplements.

Vitamin D levels of more than 20 nanograms per milliliter are considered sufficient for most people, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – which is the benchmark used by the researchers from Bar-Ilan University and Galilee Medical Center.

Research compiled before the emergence of COVID-19 and published in the Lancet, found vitamin D cut the risk of other respiratory infections, compared with dummy drugs.

But for COVID-19, early findings have been inconsistent – some studies have found a link between low vitamin D levels and severe COVID-19, whilst others concluded the vitamin wasn’t protective.

It wasn’t clear – even from those studies with results showing a positive correlation between low vitamin D levels and severe COVID-19 – if depleted vitamin D came before or after people got sick, the Israeli researchers said.

We're rightly warned not to spend too much time in the sun, because of the risk of skin cancer, so many people in developed countries have too little vitamin D in their blood.   I was tested a few years ago, and was found to have very low levels of vitamin D in my blood.  I started taking supplemental vitamin D but my blood level barely rose.  Only when I doubled my intake did my blood level start to slowly. rise.  Read one of Dr Joel Fuhrman's pieces on Vitamin D here.

See also  Vitamin D may help with coronavirus

Important.  Having high levels of vitamin D in your bloodstream is not a substitute for the protection offered by vaccines.  It's an adjunct, an additional way to reduce mortality risk.