Vitamin D deficiency and weight gain?

The majority of individuals I speak to either take no Vitamin D or very little, usually whatever is part of their calcium:magnesium supplement or somewhere between 600-1,000IU. More and more research is mounting and showing that the average adult requires between 2,000-5,000IU daily and that children require between 1,000-2,000IU daily.

A study published in the January 2010 issue of Diabetes, suggests that a simple vitamin deficiency could be responsible for packing on the pounds over time. Researchers measured serum vitamin D (measured as 25-hydroxy vitamin D on a blood test) among a group of healthy adults. Using computed tomography (CT), each subject was also evaluated for their levels of subcutaneous fat (the unsightly fat that accumulates just beneath the skin’s surface) and visceral fat (the fat that surrounds internal organs, deep within the abdomen), which can lead to metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes.  Results showed that those patients with lower levels of vitamin D were likely to have an increased waist circumference and higher blood insulin levels.

In addition, researchers found that low levels of vitamin D were linked to an increase in volume in both types of fat, with the rates of vitamin D deficiency being three times greater in subjects with the highest amounts of body fat. The researchers concluded that vitamin D status is strongly associated with the body’s levels of fat, and most notably visceral fat, which has direct ties to both heart disease and diabetes.

I recommend 2,000 – 5,000iu of vitamin D3 daily. If you are menopausal, suffer from cancer, MS, arthritis or fibromyalgia maybe even 5,000-10,000 IU daily.  If you take vitamin D3 (liquid) drops versus pills, be sure to take them under your tongue for improved absorption.