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Vitamin D Deficiency May Be The Reason You're Losing Muscle With Age
It’s no secret that eating enough protein and strength training (whether your heavy weights are 5 pounds or 50) helps you build muscle at any age. But one part of muscle health many of us overlook is vitamin D.
Bone health is vitamin D’s claim to fame, but this vitamin impacts all types of lean mass—including muscle.* Not to mention immunity, gut health, mood, and cellular aging of course.
Previously, studies have only shown a broad connection between low vitamin D status and loss of muscle mass. But researchers recently set out to investigate whether there’s a more causal relationship between the two. Here’s how, and what it means for your health.
About the study
Similar to past studies, this one looked at whether vitamin D levels in the blood are linked to how much muscle people have. However, researchers also looked at genetic data (via Mendelian randomization) to see if vitamin D might cause changes in muscle mass—rather than just being associated with it.
To do so, they gathered data from 11,242 individuals in the U.S. ranging from 18 to 59 years old on their vitamin D status and the muscle mass status of their arms and legs (known as appendicular muscle mass or AMM) from a DXA scan.
AMM is a known way to assess for age-related declines in muscle—with a lower AMM linked to poorer health outcomes.
Most people were low in vitamin D
And turns out, nearly 80% of folks included in this study had low vitamin D levels (!!).
- 42% were vitamin D deficient (blood levels less than 20 ng/mL)
- 37.6% had vitamin D insufficiency (blood levels between 20 and 30 ng/mL)
- ~20% had a sufficient vitamin D status (blood levels 30 mg/L or higher)
The rate of vitamin D deficiency in this study far surpasses previous estimates of 29% of U.S. adults1.
Low vitamin D is linked to muscle loss
Overall results showed that those with higher vitamin D levels had more muscle mass. This holds true even when accounting for factors that impact vitamin D status (like race and time of year) and muscle mass (like age, physical activity, and weight).
When the researchers looked at the genetic data, they found:
- A very strong link that higher vitamin D levels were a cause of more muscle mass in general, but especially for men.
- The link was still there for women, it was just a little weaker.
The verdict? Reaching and maintaining sufficient vitamin D levels play a key role in preserving muscle mass with age.
Raising your vitamin D levels
The data collected from this study can apply broadly to the U.S. population, which means many of us would benefit from significantly raising our vitamin D levels.
So what ’s the most effective way of doing so? Taking a high-quality vitamin D supplement. That’s right, sunshine alone isn't enough (or the safest way) to reach and maintain optimal levels, and there are limited dietary sources of the vitamin.
Enter: mindbodygreen’s vitamin D3 potency+. This formula was specifically formulated to be effective at raising frustratingly low vitamin D levels.* Each gelcap offers 5,000 IU of the optimal vitamin D3 (better than D2 supplements) sustainably sourced from organic algae.
Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin, which is why each capsule also contains a trio of oils (avocado, flaxseed, and olive) to enhance absorption. Research shows taking a 5,000 IU dose daily not only raises your vitamin D levels to sufficient levels but even to optimal levels of 50 mg/mL.* While this option is our favorite, these six are also great.
The takeaway
Having high enough vitamin D levels is vital for bone health and muscle health. While we’re often hesitant to say “proves” or “causes” about nutrition research, this new study provides solid evidence that vitamin D status is at least one potential cause of muscle health.
Not sure what your vitamin D level currently is? Try one of these at-home tests to find out.
