Ep. 149 | Vitamin D – Hype or Key Nutrient Worth Supplementing?

Are you confused and tired of seeing different dietary and nutritional supplements being marketed at you…everywhere? There are so many that it’s hard to know what's really necessary for health and not just hype…Like vitamin D. Is this something we really need to be concerned about?

I feel the same way. There are so many different vitamin, mineral and other nutritional supplements being marketed nowadays at us, especially if you're over 65 years of age, that it can all be overwhelming and confusing. They can't all be necessary and critical to good health!

Well, let’s look at one of these nutrients together today – vitamin D. In this episode, we’ll explore some of the key roles that vitamin D plays in our body and what current research and findings are showing for this nutrient.

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Let's first look at what vitamin D actually is and its key functions in the body. Vitamin D is actually a hormone and it acts within the body, not just to help us with calcium absorption so we can build strong bones, but also helps to boost our immunity. Vitamin D also helps us in the area of cell growth and neuromuscular function and helps to reduce inflammation. And vitamin D may be important when it comes to reducing the rate of cellular aging too.

In the summer of 2025, some research results from the vital study, V-I-T-A-L, were published. This is a large, double-blinded, randomized controlled study involving vitamin D and Omega-3 fatty acid supplementation. During a four-year period of supplementation of participants with vitamin D at a dosage of 2000 International Units a day, researchers analyzed samples from over a thousand participants at three specific time intervals.

Here's what they found. In those who had this supplementation, there seemed to be less telomere attrition or wearing down of the protective caps of repetitive DNA at the ends of chromosomes. This observation was made after analyzing leukocyte telomere length (LTL), in the samples with leukocytes, referring to white blood cells in the blood that are vital to immune function. This could all mean better health immunity and slower aging on a cellular level with adequate vitamin D levels in the body. That's exciting to hear, isn't it?

You may have also heard of vitamin D as the sunshine vitamin, and that's true. Vitamin D is one of the rare nutrients that can be made through a cascade process when ultraviolet or UV rays hit our skin. So, our body can manufacture vitamin D endogenously.

But there are many factors inhibiting the amount of vitamin D we can make leading to vitamin D inadequacies. These include our modern way of living with mostly indoor lifestyles, having darker skin, living in higher latitudes, being covered with sunscreens and clothing to avoid skin cancer, seasonal changes, and the extent of air pollution in the environment we live in. This all limits the amount of sun exposure we get and the amount of vitamin D synthesis resulting from that.
So, let's look into what's the latest in the world of vitamin D.

In 2024, a consensus statement on vitamin D assessment and supplementation was published, summarizing key results from the sixth International Conference held in Fall 2022, to discuss vitamin D metabolism assessment, actions, and supplementation. This consensus statement was made by 27 vitamin D researchers.

In it, the authors acknowledge that while some debate still exists over what would be an optimal level of 25-hydroxy vitamin D in the blood, what is clear is the importance of preventing vitamin D deficiency. This is especially so for older individuals, because vitamin D deficiency can reduce intestinal calcium absorption leading to consequences such as secondary hyperparathyroidism, bone loss, and an increased risk of fractures.

Overall, the general consensus seems to be that we all need to ensure vitamin D adequacy and vitamin D supplementation is one very effective and reliable way to achieve this. In this paper, there was acknowledgement that the optimal dose of vitamin D supplementation may vary by the desired outcome, but vitamin D supplementation is generally a safe treatment with minimal adverse reactions.
 
Listen and find out more about vitamin D and current recommendations regarding vitamin D supplementation HERE. 


Episode Highlights & Key Timestamps:

• [1:39] Feeling hopeless and defeated about your current health challenges? Listen here
• [4:07] Key functions of vitamin D within the body
• [4:43] What the VITAL research study found
• [5:54] What’s unique about vitamin D
• [6:51] Key takeaways from a Consensus Statement on vitamin D published in 2024
• [8:20] Recommendations on vitamin D supplementation levels
• [11:01] How to get customized support to reset your health and heal your body via plant-based eating

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