A claim you hear on longevity podcasts

Is low vitamin D linked to shorter telomeres?

The claim checked: In twin studies, the lowest vitamin D went with the shortest telomeres Hear it at 3:16

What do the studies say?

Conflicting

Four of ten studies linked low vitamin D to shorter telomeres, one of them also at very high levels; three found no link, and three found one only in some groups.

Computed from 10 studies that test this point, each judged by two readers, in full. Sources land on both sides. 6 more studies are waiting for a full read and do not count yet.

What was said on the podcast?

“Two epidemiological studies on twins found that those individuals with the lowest levels of vitamin D also had the shortest tieumirs. And this tie shortening correlated to 5 years of biological aging.”
Rhonda Patrick, FoundMyFitness · The "Vitamin D Sweet Spot" and Its Relationship To Aging · 3:16 on YouTube
The auto transcript writes "tieumirs" and "tie shortening" for "telomeres" and "telomere shortening".
Comes up in 5 episodes of the show.
The point checked Conflicting

In twin studies, people with the lowest vitamin D had the shortest telomeres (association)

Agree 4

other primary study · 2007 · cited on tape

“The multiply adjusted difference in LTL between the highest and lowest tertile of 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations was 107.1 base pairs (P for difference between means = 0.0009), which was equivalent to 5.0 y of telomeric aging.”

Higher serum vitamin D concentrations are associated with longer leukocyte telomere length in women. Am J Clin Nutr
Who: 2160 women aged 18-79 y (mean 49.4) from the TwinsUK population-based twin cohort
PMID 17991655

other primary study · 2021

“Using Spearman rank correlation, it has been concluded that there is a strong positive correlation between TL and Vitamin D (rho = 0.64; P < 0.0001) [Figure 5].”

Association of Telomere Length and Serum Vitamin D Levels with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus and its Related Complications: A Possible Future Perspective. Genome Integr
Who: adults >18 at a South Indian tertiary care hospital: 45 with type 2 diabetes and 45 non-diabetic, none on vitamin D supplements (mean age 58.3)
PMID 34976365

other primary study · 2023

“Interestingly, we found an inverted U-shaped association between shorter LTL and serum 25OHD at very low and high serum levels.”

Very Low and High Levels of Vitamin D Are Associated with Shorter Leukocyte Telomere Length in 148,321 UK Biobank Participants. Nutrients
Who: UK Biobank participants aged 60-70 at baseline (mean 64.1 years; 97.3% White)
PMID 36986204

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pooled analysis · 2026

“The pooled analysis of all available studies found a positive correlation between serum 25(OH)D levels and LTL (β = 0.04, 95% CI = 0.02–0.06; Fig. 2 ), although significant heterogeneity was observed among the studies (I2 = 89.1%, P ≤ .001).”

The association of serum levels of vitamin D with leucocyte telomere length, as a marker of biological aging: A meta-analysis. Medicine (Baltimore)
Who: children and adults (mean ages 8.8 to 64.3) in cross-sectional studies from the USA, UK, Europe, Asia, Brazil, Australia and Colombia, including the TwinsUK women (Richards 2007)
PMID 41650046

Partly agree 3

other primary study · 2017

“In conclusion, our findings support a possible positive association between 25(OH)D levels and telomere length; however, our results indicate that sedentary lifestyle and obesity may be crucial factors in any associations between 25(OH)D and TL.”

The association of telomere length and serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels in US adults: the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Arch Med Sci
Who: US adults aged 18+ from NHANES 2001-2002, excluding those with diabetes, coronary heart disease, stroke or heart failure (not twins)
PMID 28144256

other primary study · 2013

“Although we did not observe any specific correlations between serum 25(OH)D levels and anti-telomere antibodies or telomere length at baseline in SLE patients, there was a significant correlation between telomere length and 25(OH)D level in all subjects (controls and patients) with the lowest 25(OH)D levels.”

Systemic lupus erythematosus and vitamin D deficiency are associated with shorter telomere length among African Americans: a case-control study. PLoS One
Who: 59 African American Gullah women with systemic lupus erythematosus and 59 age-matched unaffected female controls, South Carolina
PMID 23700431

other primary study · 2016

“Vitamin D deficiency (defined as 25(OH)D <30 nmol/l), however, was significantly associated with short LTL in whites (P=0·024) but not in other groups.”

Relationship between plasma 25-hydroxyvitamin D and leucocyte telomere length by sex and race in a US study. Br J Nutr
Who: US radiologic technologists aged 48-93 (373 white women, 278 white men, 338 black women, 165 black men)
PMID 27515444

Disagree 3

other primary study · 2016

“The findings of this study do not support the hypothesis that higher circulating 25(OH)D concentrations are associated with longer LTL in young adults.”

25-Hydroxyvitamin D Concentration and Leukocyte Telomere Length in Young Adults: Findings From the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966. Am J Epidemiol
Who: Men and women aged 31 years from the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966 (not twins)
PMID 26797572

other primary study · 2017

“In this cross-sectional study of white men, we did not observe an association between vitamin D biomarkers (25(OH)D and 1,25(OH)2D) and leukocyte telomere length.”

Plasma vitamin D biomarkers and leukocyte telomere length in men. Eur J Nutr
Who: White men aged 46-81 from nested case-control sets in the Health Professionals Follow-up Study
PMID 26558766

other primary study · 2022

“There were no associations observed between vitamin D, omega 6:3 ratio, and LTL in independent and combined analyses.”

Associations between Vitamin D, Omega 6:Omega 3 Ratio, and Biomarkers of Aging in Individuals Living with and without Chronic Pain. Nutrients
Who: adults aged 45-85 with and without chronic (mostly knee osteoarthritis) pain from the UPLOAD cohort, Florida and Alabama (mean age 56.6, 63% women, 79.5% with chronic pain)
PMID 35057447

What else was said but not tested?

  • That difference corresponded to about 5 years of biological aging
  • Vitamin D's anti-inflammatory action is thought to partly explain slower telomere attrition (causal hypothesis)

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