What Happens to Your Vitamin D Levels as You Age?

Your body needs vitamin D to function properly, but your vitamin D level may start to decline as you age. To get enough vitamin D, you need healthy skin, a healthy liver, healthy kidneys, and the ability to get enough sunlight, all of which could change as you get older.

Why Your Vitamin D Levels Might Decrease as You Age

Vitamin D is a hormone1 that requires sunlight, skin, the liver, and the kidneys to fully operate, said Matthew Badgett, MD, a lifestyle medicine and internal medicine specialist at the Cleveland Clinic.

“Older people tend to get less sunlight, and their skin has fewer vitamin D precursors,” Badgett said.

Aging may also affect how the body processes vitamin D. The liver may produce less of an enzyme called 25-hydroxylase, which helps activate vitamin D3, although Badgett said this reduction has only been shown in mice, not humans.Read Original/Read Complete.