Do you know that Vitamin D levels may play a role in weight loss?

Vitamin D is a group of fat-soluble prohormones, the two major forms of which are vitamin D2 (or ergocalciferol) and vitamin D3 (or cholecalciferol).Vitamin D also refers to metabolites and other analogues of these substances. Vitamin D3 is produced in skin exposed to sunlight, specifically ultraviolet B radiation. Vitamin D plays an important role in the maintenance of organ systems.

 

Vitamin D regulates the calcium and phosphorus levels in the blood by promoting their absorption from food in the intestines, and by promoting reabsorption of calcium in the kidneys, which enables normal mineralization of bone and prevents hypocalcemic tetany. It is also needed for bone growth and bone remodeling by osteoblasts and osteoclasts.

 

Vitamin D affects the immune system by promoting phagocytosis, anti-tumor activity, and immunomodulatory functions. 

Vitamin D deficiency can result from inadequate intake coupled with inadequate sunlight exposure; disorders that limit its absorption; conditions that impair conversion of vitamin D into active metabolites, such as liver or kidney disorders; or, rarely, by a number of hereditary disorders. Deficiency results in impaired bone mineralization and leads to bone softening diseases rickets in children and osteomalacia in adults, and possibly contributes to osteoporosis. However, sunlight exposure, to avoid deficiency, carries other risks, including skin cancer; this risk is avoided with dietary absorption, either through diet or as a dietary supplement.

Vitamin D deficiency has been implicated as a culprit in a host of diseases. Just recently at the Endocrine Society’s annual meeting in Washington, D.C., it was declared that vitamin D levels may play a role in weight loss in obese patients.

Dr. Sibley from the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis conducted an investigation in 38 obese and overweight men and women testing their vitamin D levels while investigating a causal relationship between vitamin D levels and rate of weight loss.

They measured both the active and inactive levels of vitamin D before and after an eleven week weight loss program consisting of a 750 calorie per day deficit from estimated needs. On average, vitamin D levels in the study subjects were in a deficiency range.

According to the investigators, vitamin D levels predicted subsequent weight loss success in subjects on a weight loss diet.

“Abdominal fat specifically tended to be related to vitamin D levels with the effect being stronger with the active form of vitamin D”, Dr. Sibley reported at the meeting.

Preservation of lean body mass remained intact.

Underlying mechanisms for these results need to be studied further, but optimism is on the horizon. Dr. Sibley concluded that “If it is established that vitamin D does indeed contribute to weight loss approaches this could have a huge public health impact on the obesity epidemic”.

Findings suggest at this point that vitamin D may play a pivotal role in weight loss success rates when combined with a low calorie diet.

In the absence of vitamin K or with drugs (particularly blood thinners) that interfere with Vitamin K metabolism, Vitamin D can promote soft tissue calcification. It inhibits parathyroid hormone secretion from the parathyroid gland.

 

Let's wait for further update from the group of Kathy Shattler,  Detroit Healthy Living Examiner.