. That skin synthesis process is how we get vitamin D from the sun: The sunshine hits exposed skin and, after a few conversion steps, creates vitamin D3. As Ferira notes, this process simply slows as you grow older, so your skin doesn't create as much of the sunshine vitamin.
There's also an environmental factor at play: With age, you might not spend as much time outside or engage in outdoor activities, which decreases sun exposure . This combined with potential medication interactions is why, Ferira says,"to be mindful of, for yourself and your loved ones.*" And sunshine aside, there's another way age is limiting our vitamin D potential. Ferira explains that"when we're older, conversion of the circulating 25D form of vitamin D to its doubly hydroxylated form—the active, hormone form—is blunted in the body. Thus, a sufficient daily dose of D3 is essential to overcome these age-related mechanics."*This ad is displayed using third party content and we do not control its accessibility features.