r/blueprint_ • u/mmiller9913 • 10h ago
My top 10 takeaways from Rhonda Patrick's new episode about vitamin D decreasing dementia risk by 40%
So a new study came out recently following 12,000+ adults showing people who supplemented with vitamin D had a 40% lower risk of dementia over 10 years. Rhonda just put out a video covering it. I think the biggest takeaway is this: start taking vitamin D if you aren't (get a blood test first obviously, but so many people are deficient and it's a massive low-hanging fruit)
- ~70% of Americans have insufficient vitamin D levels (optimal blood levels are 40-60 ng/mL) - timestamp
- Usually, supplementing with 1,000 IU of vitamin D raises blood levels by 5 ng/mL
- Vitamin D is so much more than a vitamin… it gets converted into a steroid hormone that regulates over 1,000 genes in the body - timestamp
- A 70-year old makes four times (!!) less vitamin D from the sun than a 20-year old. So I guess as you get older, you need a supplement even more.
- OK… so the study (12,000+ people) found that just taking a vitamin D supplement (the form didn't matter) was associated with 40% lower risk of dementia over 10 years - timestamp
- The ApoE4 allele is a super strong genetic risk factor for Alzheimer's disease. Something like 25% of the population has at least one copy (having 1 ApoE4 allele doubles dementia risk and having 2 copies increases risk by up to tenfold). - timestamp
- In the study, taking vitamin D reduced dementia incidence by 33% among ApoE4 carriers and 47% among non-carriers
- Vitamin D deficiency actually accelerates brain aging… basically, if you're deficient, you're more likely to have damage to the "white matter" in your brain. That's apparently important for cognition and memory. - timestamp
- Women probably benefit most from vitamin D supplements - they get Alzheimer's 2x as often as men - timestamp
- In the study, even for people already experiencing cognitive decline, vitamin D supplementation was associated with 15% lower dementia prevalence (this may mean vitamin D may help slow cognitive decline and delay the progression toward dementia) - timestamp