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Can Taking a Vitamin D Supplement Help You Lose Weight?

And vitamin D helps with more than just bone health. While getting a little sun is a great way to help you get your vitamin D, you can score some of the vitamin through food. Also, vitamin D is often added to milk, breakfast cereals, and orange juice, the NIH notes, so check your food labels. Supplementing your diet with vitamin D is another route to reach the NIH-recommended amount of 15 micrograms, or international units IU , per day, for people ages 1 to According to the NIH, you can find vitamin D2 and vitamin D3 supplements in the vitamin aisle, and both can raise the vitamin D level in your blood.

Vitamin D deficiency - Wikipedia

The authors theorize that one reason may be that excess fat, liver, and muscle mass prevents vitamin D absorption. Another potential explanation, says Dr. McTiernan, it that people who are overweight or who have obesity might get less sun exposure and therefore have a lower level of vitamin D.


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Shilpi Agarwal, MD , a board-certified family physician in Washington, DC, says that even if they are able to go outside, they may be less likely to if their lifestyle is sedentary, which could contribute to a deficiency. One more factor could be diet. Whatever the reason, researchers are now looking into whether vitamin D supplementation to bring levels up to a healthy range could aid in weight loss.

For example, in a study published in March in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition , postmenopausal women were given either a placebo or a supplement of 2, IU of oral vitamin D3 per day, which is considered a high dose. Participants, who were overweight or had obesity, were also put on a weight loss program, which consisted of an exercise program in addition to a reduced-calorie diet.

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The authors, including McTiernan, discovered an association between vitamin D and greater weight loss. Because vitamin D influences so many facets of your health, a deficiency could contribute to other factors that may play a role in weight. For example, a vitamin D deficiency is linked to mental illness.


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A review published in in the journal Neuropsychiatry found a significant connection between a vitamin D deficiency and depression. Having a low mood is also associated with carrying extra weight. By affecting levels of testosterone hormone, it helps in weight loss.

Therefore, increase in vitamin D levels not only helps in weight loss but also in overcoming depression as children may face depression because of their appearance and peer pressure. Numerous studies show that over 80 per cent of Indians suffer from deficiency of vitamin D, which is vital for the absorption of calcium in the body.

Deficiency of this crucial vitamin among children is pushing doctors to prescribe for them compulsory playtime in the sun to kids. The Indian Council of Medical Research says diet provides less than 10 per cent of vitamin D; close to 90 per cent is synthesised in the skin with sunlight exposure. In modern times, because of change in lifestyles, our outdoor activities are remarkably restricted and so is our sun exposure. Sunlight is a rich source of vitamin D and lack of sun exposure has the potential to cause vitamin D deficiency. Parenthesis: Playing outdoors is messy, fun and vital for kids.

Vitamin D deficiency and childhood obesity have been classified as epidemics throughout the world, and both share some common risk factors including poor diet and inactivity. According to a survey, approximately per cent of Indians are vitamin D deficient.

An iodine deficiency can cause the thyroid to function slowly, leading to potential weight gain.

In school children aged years, only 5 per cent had sufficient levels of hydroxy vitamin D and the rest had either vitamin D deficiency 24 per cent or insufficiency 71 per cent , despite majority of children 80 per cent reporting sunlight exposure of under two hours. Apart from sunlight, the other sources of vitamin D are fish and fish oil, mushrooms, yeast and egg yolk, but they need to be eaten in very high quantities to maintain an optimum level of the vitamin.

No wonder, almost every Indian is deficient in this essential vitamin! One almost always has to take a supplement or buy foods especially fortified in it. Milks, in particular, can be fortified with Vitamin D. Fish oil, such as cod liver fish oil, is a great supplement to the diet not only for vitamin D but also for many other nutritional benefits that it provides besides Vitamin D. There are many sources besides those mentioned above that are made from sheep wool, yeast or mushrooms that can help them fulfill their vitamin D requirement.

Unfortunately, very few foods are good sources of Vitamin D and therefore, its deficiency is quite prevalent. It is almost always very difficult to cover the vitamin D deficiency with our diet and many of us require supplements. However, before starting, it is important to consult a doctor and get the vitamin D levels checked.