Low levels have also been linked to Alzheimer’s disease, as well as cancer and heart disease.
A diet low in vitamin D could be causing brain damage, research suggests.
Scientists have found that rats fed a diet low in vitamin D have lower cognitive performance.
The rats also show damage to many different brain proteins caused by free radicals.
Professor Allan Butterfield, study co-author, said:
“Given that vitamin D deficiency is especially widespread among the elderly, we investigated how during aging from middle-age to old-age how low vitamin D affected the oxidative status of the brain.
Adequate vitamin D serum levels are necessary to prevent free radical damage in brain and subsequent deleterious consequences.”
Low levels of vitamin D likely leads to brain aging and cognitive decline.
Low levels of vitamin D have also been linked to Alzheimer’s disease, as well as cancer and heart disease.
Vitamin D can be obtained from the diet, by taking supplements and/or with 10-15 minutes exposure to sunlight every day.
The study was published in the journal Free Radical Biology and Medicine (Keeney et al., 2013).
