The VITAL randomized controlled trial found that vitamin D supplementation helps maintain telomeres, the protective DNA caps at chromosome ends that naturally shorten with age and are linked to disease development. This large-scale, long-term study tracked over 1,000 participants aged 50 to 55+ for five years, measuring telomere length in white blood cells at baseline, year two, and year four.
Participants taking vitamin D3 supplements (2,000 IU/day) showed significantly reduced telomere shortening over four years compared to those taking the placebo, preventing the equivalent of nearly three years of biological aging. Omega-3 fatty acid supplementation showed no significant effect on telomere length during the study period. The researchers suggest that vitamin D supplementation may be a promising strategy to slow biological aging processes, though further research is needed to confirm these findings.
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