Low Vitamin D: Ties To Osteoporosis and Biological Age
*This article is not medical advice. Before starting on any health related regimen, seek the advice of your Primary Care Physician or an M.D.
Whether it’s just in the winter time, or in various chronic illness communities, Low D levels are often a topic of conversation and mis-understanding.
Plus...ties to beyond the immune system, and oesteoporosis
Many folks claim to have chronically low levels of Vitamin D, yet cannot seem to improve their status despite aggressive supplementation, even with the famous combination of K2/D3. What is going on here ?
Some believe its just a lack of sun-light, which certainly can be a factor, but lets dive in and understand what our body has to do to create useable forms of Vitamin D:
Whether it is from sunlight or from a supplement there are several CYP450 genes involved in the conversion of Vitamin D into useable forms. All CYP450 genes need NAD (think B3, NMN, Niacinamide, NR), both active forms of B2 (FMN, FAD), heme, and oxygen. Woa. NAD levels drop in most folks as we age, and are certainly a common deficiency seen in chronic illness, as is B2. Heme needs glycine, Lipoic Acid, B2, Iron, B7, Zinc, Copper, manganese, and molybdenum. B2 needs selenium, iodine, and molybdenum to get converted into the active forms of FMN, and FAD. Additionally, D needs to get sulfated to become active and used by the body, these genes require sulfation genes (SULT1a1, SULT2a1) to be functioning well. These genes can be inhibited by a number of things - lack of sulfate, salicylates, etc. Vitamin K2 is required to activate osteocalcin, the protein that stores calcium in bones. Vitamin K2 also activates matrix Gla protein (MGP), which regulates calcium in arterial walls. Although vitamin D3 causes the formation of osteocalcin, only vitamin K2 can activate osteocalcin, the protein that stores calcium in the bones. OK, so its a bit more than just take K2, an D3 together. Both k2 and D3 are fat soluable so they need effective digestive enzymes to break them down and absorb, them - best taken with a meal. Many folks with chronic unresolved illness suffer from poor fat absorption/digestion - especially if SIBO is in play.
What about all this stuff about oesteoporosis and K2, D3 and alpha keto glutarate helping with osteoporosis ? Yes, its true. Some research suggests that AKG may help regulate the production of certain hormones like thyroid hormones, which are important for vitamin D activation in the body. But, there is more. Alpha-ketoglutarate (AKG) helps with osteoporosis by promoting bone formation and inhibiting bone breakdown through its role as a key metabolic intermediate, essentially stimulating osteoblast activity (the cells responsible for bone building) while suppressing osteoclast activity (the cells responsible for bone resorption), thereby improving bone mineral density and reducing the risk of fractures associated with osteoporosis; research suggests it may also function by regulating epigenetic modifications within bone cells, enhancing osteogenic differentiation. And finally, alpha-ketoglutarate (α-KG) binds to excess phosphate in the blood, helping to restore calcium and phosphate balance in the body. Phoshorous can bind to calcium, and limit the amount of calcium that gets absorbed and used by our body, so a supplement like calcium based alpha keto gluturate can be excellent.
As one can see, there are many nutritional cofactors involved beyond just a good k2/d3 supplement, in addition to efficient digestion of fats.
In Summary - Effective Vitamin D management is not so simple:
Need good digestion - fats
Nutritional competency in a number of key nutrients:
Vitamins: K2, D3, B2, B3, B6, B7, B12
Minerals: Zinc, Copper, Manganese, Molybdenum, Iron, Iodine, Selenium, and Molybdenum
Amino Acids: Glycine
Others: Lipoic Acid
Oxygen - sufficient blood oxygen, and not in a chronic state of hypoxia, platelet activation, or micro clotting (think long covid)
Succynil co A - from the krebs cycle, and from the input of : Propionyl Co A to Malonyl Co A to Succinyl Co A - which requires B7, and Adenocobalamin B12. This process can be blocked by chronic supplementation of resveratrol and a number of herbs.
Support sulfation with epsom salt baths! Sulfation can be inhibited by salicylates and the mycotoxin Zearalenone.
Although each case is unique, the most common deficiencies that i see that effect D status in order of most significant to lesser: NAD/B3 (by far), Iron, Molybdenum, and Lipoic Acid.
A variety of factors like GI health, diet, genetic issues, respiratory issues (low oxygen) can effect nutritional status and our ability to digest, convert, and use Vitamin D.
Equally as important, is the potential significant benefit of managing our nutritional status on our immune and bone density health as we age.
There is a well know supplement, Rejuvant, that uses Vitamin D and Alpha Keto Glutarate supplementation to make claims in a pub med paper of improving our biological age.
“ The search continues for possible interventions that delay and/or reverse biological aging, resulting in extended healthspan and lifespan. Interventions delaying aging in animal models are well established; however, most lack validation in humans. The length of human lifespan makes it impractical to perform survival analysis. Instead, aging biomarkers, such as DNA methylation (DNAm) clocks, have been developed to monitor biological age. Herein we report a retrospective analysis of DNA methylation age in 42 individuals taking Rejuvant®, an alpha-ketoglutarate based formulation, for an average period of 7 months. DNAm testing was performed at baseline and by the end of treatment with Rejuvant® supplementation. Remarkably, individuals showed an average decrease in biological aging of 8 years (p-value=6.538x10-12). Furthermore, the supplementation with Rejuvant® is robust to individual differences, as indicated by the fact that a large majority of participants decreased their biological age. Moreover, we found that Rejuvant® is of additional benefit to chronologically and biologically older individuals. While continued testing, particularly in a placebo-controlled design, is required, the nearly 8-year reversal in the biological age of individuals taking Rejuvant® for 4 to 10 months is noteworthy, making the natural product cocktail an intriguing candidate to affect human aging. “
Lets not let the dreary months ahead get us down - perhaps we can take the time to check things out if we have chronically low D levels and we just cannot figure out why:)