Vitamin D plays an essential role in regulating the absorption of phosphorus and calcium. Additionally, vitamin D supplementation has been proven to decrease risk for dynapenia by 78% among older individuals1.1
Dynapenia is muscle strength loss caused by age-related atrophy and poses a substantial physical incapacity risk factor later on. Individuals suffering from this condition are more prone to falling, hospital visits, premature institutionalization and death.

Data was analyzed on 3,205 individuals without dynapenia aged 50 or older who participated in the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing for four years.

Vitamin D is a hormone with various functions; among its many uses are muscle repair and calcium release for kinetic muscle contraction. As expected, taking Vitamin D would result in changes to muscles of some kind; indeed this was precisely what this study demonstrated.

Muscle and bone tissue are interdependent biochemically as well as mechanically. Endocrine disorders like vitamin D deficiency or insufficiency can result in bone mineral density loss as well as decreased muscle mass, function, and strength.

Participants included both men and women aged 50 years and over without dynapenia. Grip strength for both genders exceeded 16 kg in both cases – 16 kg for women, 26kg+ in men.

The key finding was that people with vitamin D levels below 30 nanomoles/liter had a 70 percent increased dynapenia risk by the end of 4 years compared to individuals with healthy vitamin D levels (defined as over 50 nanomoles/liter).