It’s important we’re getting enough of the stuff, as a lack of vitamin D<\/a> can lead to bone deformities such as rickets in children, and bone pain caused by a condition called osteomalacia in adults.<\/p>\n Good sources of vitamin D, other than dietary supplements, include direct sunlight on the skin<\/a> when outdoors as well as a small number of foods<\/a> like oily fish, red meat and egg yolks.<\/p>\n And while vitamin D is great for your physical health<\/a>, it also supports overall brain health, with a study finding that higher vitamin D levels in midlife may be linked to lower tau protein levels, a marker of Alzheimer\u2019s<\/a> risk.<\/p>\n Alzheimer’s disease is the most common cause of dementia<\/a> in the UK<\/a>.<\/p>\n An April 2026 study in Neurology Open Access<\/a>, cited by Eating Well<\/a>, followed 793 adults from the Framingham Heart Study. Participants were around 39 at the start, with no dementia.<\/p>\n Researchers measured vitamin D levels, then carried out brain scans roughly 16 years later, focusing on tau and amyloid beta, proteins linked to Alzheimer\u2019s.<\/p>\n Higher vitamin D levels in midlife were associated with lower tau levels later on, while no link was found with amyloid beta.<\/p>\n “These results suggest that higher vitamin D levels in midlife may offer protection against developing these tau deposits in the brain and that low vitamin D levels could potentially be a risk factor that could be modified and treated to reduce the risk of dementia,” said study author Martin David Mulligan.<\/p>\n Tau is a key marker in dementia research as lower levels tend to signal healthier brain ageing.<\/p>\n It’s important, however, to note that the study shows a link, not proof of cause and effect.<\/p>\n There are limits, too, as vitamin D was measured once, not tracked over time. Other lifestyle factors may have influenced outcomes, even after adjustments.<\/p>\n With that said, midlife stands out as a window where habits matter.<\/p>\n “These results are promising, as they suggest an association between higher vitamin D levels in early middle age and lower tau burden on average 16 years later,” Mulligan said. “Midlife is a time where risk factor modification can have a greater impact.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Many of us incorporate vitamins and supplements into our daily routine, with vitamin D being a popular choice…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":605969,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[61],"tags":[3005,26444,97,271,269],"class_list":{"0":"post-605968","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nutrition","8":"tag-advice","9":"tag-explained","10":"tag-health","11":"tag-life","12":"tag-nutrition"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/605968","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=605968"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/605968\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/605969"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=605968"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=605968"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=605968"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/aHR0cHM6Ly9ldS1pbWFnZXMuY29udGVudHN0YWNrLmNvbS92My9hc3NldHMvYmx0OGJiZjE2YzJkN2EyMDllNS9ibHQ1ODU1M2Nj.webp\"\/)
A study has found that higher vitamin D levels in midlife may be linked to lower tau protein levels, a marker of Alzheimer\u2019s risk (Getty Stock Images)<\/p>\n![\"Good](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/aHR0cHM6Ly9ldS1pbWFnZXMuY29udGVudHN0YWNrLmNvbS92My9hc3NldHMvYmx0OGJiZjE2YzJkN2EyMDllNS9ibHQzZWIxOGJi.webp\"\/)
Good sources of vitamin D include direct sunlight on the skin as well as foods like oily fish, red meat and egg yolks (Getty Stock Images)<\/p>\n