What if someone told you of a revolutionary, exciting and all round supplement guaranteed to have a dramatic benefit on your health?

Wouldn’t you dash out to the shops at the speed of light, hoping to lay your hands on this so called new wonder supplement?

The answer to so many ills, maybe this is what you’ve been waiting for?

But hang on a minute – now I’ve got your undivided attention let me say this:

‘Don’t be a diet dunce and miss out on the benefits of the delectable D vitamin! In fact say this three times, for D3 has to be the one for me! I’ll even go a step further and say, ‘not so much a vitamin as a prohormone’. You want proof? Just take a look at this.

‘It helps with bone health, lowers blood pressure, protects against colds and flu, assists muscle structure, improves blood sugar, reduces the chance of skin problems, protects the heart, guards against cancer, assists in weight loss, and…………oh the list goes on, though sadly it won’t do the washing up!! And yet many people are deficient in this wonder supplement available right in front of their eyes. D3 is a health superstar, a passionate performer, a doyen of bodily goodness!’

With the body transformation challenge taking shape you can ensure it’s the right one by looking more closely at ‘The Sunshine Vitamin’ and it’s warming benefits. So how is this crucial body vitamin made?

Vitamin D is made by the body when the skin is exposed to the sun’s ultraviolet rays. When this happens, a cholesterol-like compound is converted first to a precursor to vitamin D and after to vitamin D3, (or cholecalciferol). Vitamin D3 is activated by enzymes  and converted to calcidiol in the liver. Part of the calcidiol is converted by the kidneys to calcitriol, the biologically-active form of vitamin D. This circulates as a hormone in the blood, regulating the concentration of calcium and phosphate in the bloodstream and promoting the healthy growth and remodeling of bone.

There aren’t many natural food sources of vitamin D3, and it’s not found in high amounts either. The foods containing the most vitamin D3 are cod liver oil and fatty fish, such as salmon, tuna and mackerel. Other foods  include beef liver, sardines, egg yolks and cheese. However, foods fortified with vitamin D provide most of the vitamin D3 in a diet. Most commercial milk, of all varieties, is fortified with 100 IU per cup. Other fortified products include breakfast cereals, orange juice, margarine and yogurt.

Vitamin D is one of the more complex vitamins needed by the body. According to the Office of Dietary Supplements, vitamin D promotes calcium absorption and is needed for bone growth and maintenance. The recommended daily intake of vitamin D is about 600 IU for adults; however, some doctors recommend significantly more depending on your diet and amount of time spent outdoors. It is estimated that over 50% of the UK are deficient in Vitamin D3 due to limited exposure to the sun. The human body was simply not meant to spend so many hours indoors! To boost your levels normal ranges a dosage of 5000 IU’s per day is recommended.

A recent study conducted by researchers from the University of Minnesota found  overweight people have better success in losing weight when their vitamin D levels are increased. Dr. Shalamar Sibley, the researcher who headed the study, placed 38 obese men and women on a diet program and discovered  those whose vitamin D levels were increased lost up to a half pound more than those who just stuck to the diet itself without the vitamin.

Increased vitamin D levels might lead to greater weight loss on a diet, according to a 2010 study led by Dr. Danit Shahar and published in the “American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.” Researchers evaluated the effects of low-carb, low-fat and Mediterranean diets on fat loss in overweight subjects. During the two-year study, scientists observed  participants who lost weight had increased vitamin D levels. This affirms previous research revealing overweight people have lower vitamin D levels.

Vitamin D levels in the body at the start of a low-calorie diet can predict weight loss success, according to a 2009 study. The results, suggesting a possible role for vitamin D in weight loss, were presented at The Endocrine Society.
“Vitamin D deficiency is associated with obesity, but it’s not clear if inadequate vitamin D causes obesity,” said the Washington study’s lead author, Shalamar Sibley, MD, MPH. In this study, the authors attempted to determine whether baseline vitamin D levels before calorie restriction affected subsequent weight loss. They measured circulating blood levels of vitamin D in 38 overweight men and women before and after the subjects followed a diet plan for 11 weeks consisting of 750 calories a day fewer.

On average, subjects had vitamin D levels  many experts would consider to be in the insufficient range, according to Sibley. However, the authors found baseline, or pre-diet, vitamin D levels predicted weight loss in a linear relationship. For every increase of 1 ng/mL in level of 25-hydroxycholecalciferol – the precursor form of vitamin D and a commonly used indicator of vitamin D status – subjects ended up losing almost a half pound (0.196 kg) more on their calorie-restricted diet. For each 1-ng/mL increase in the active or “hormonal” form of vitamin D (1,25-dihydroxycholecalciferol), subjects lost nearly one-quarter pound (0.107 kg) more.

“Our results suggest the possibility that the addition of vitamin D to a diet will lead to better weight loss,” Sibley said.

 ‘It’s important to note a large body of science shows vitamin D works closely with calcium and magnesium, it is best to take your vitamin D in combination with calcium and magnesium to maintain a proper balance. Recent literature also shows most calcium supplements have too little vitamin D to be effective. And some of them use synthetic vitamin D2. A much better form is natural vitamin D3 which stays in your system longer and with more effect.’

And just to convince you even more D3 aids your calcium balance, helps with insulin secretion, helps to ward of Alzheimer’s and boosts the immune system. It just doesn’t get better than this!!

Many vitamin D supplements are in the form of cholecalciferol.

But remember Vitamin D3 is the most natural form of vitamin D in humans.

When combined with a reduced-calorie diet, it appears that supplementation with vitamin D helps to promote increased weight loss among those whose levels are low to begin with

Veering toward this vital vitamin will send any dieter to the top of the class, so for me – it just has to be D3!

Nutrient Data: Food Sources of Vitamin D,World’s Healthiest Foods, NIH: Dietary Supplement Fact Sheet: Vitamin D, National Institutes of Health, Office of Dietary Supplements: Vitamin D, University of California, Riverside; Vitamin D and Milk; Anthony W. Norman; Dec. 2000,  MayoClinic.com; Vitamin D Dosing; Dec. 2010, Aaraon Lohr, The endocrine society.

http://wcco.com/health/vitamin.d.weight.2.1383803.html, http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=vitamin-d-deficiency… http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/153669.php

By North East Personal Trainer Darren Tyrie