Patriot Health Digest
Japanese scientists recently tested 47 athletes for the effects of training along with taking a 1,000 IU dose of vitamin D for fat loss. They did all the blood work and scans and all the systems were a go. But one month into it, Covid hit. The gyms were stopped. Everything was stopped.
So the previously fit athletes, just like everyone else, stopped training and started eating bad diets while watching Netflix.
But even during this training hiatus, 27 of the participants in the study continued taking the vitamin D they had been given.
After three months were up, the researchers re-examined the athletes to see what was going on. It turns out the ones who did not consume vitamin D during their lockdown increased their fat by 1.9 points while those who did consume vitamin D only gained fat by 0.2 percentage points.
The scientists then reached their conclusion:
“Vitamin D supplementation could provide preferable effects on keeping a persons’ body composition under control when sports activity has declined.”
In other words, Vitamin D lets you workout less to maintain your current level of fitness.
And this is not the only study to find such benefits.
A 2003 study discovered that body fat percentage is inversely connected to serum vitamin D3 levels. Another study in 2012 said that increasing vitamin D consumption using supplementation caused body fat reduction.
Add those to this Japanese study where vitamin D plays a role in keeping fat percentage even while having periods of low activity and you have a very compelling case to start taking vitamin D.
When it comes to getting enough vitamin D, therapeutic levels can be hard. Even when you pair it with magnesium, which helps its affects. Although this Japanese study used just 1000 IU per day, most experts say a dose of up to 5,000 IU each day is best.
Author: Steven Sinclaire
