Do you also blame some food you ate for those extra pounds on your waist? But now new research have shown that the reason may be the food you are not eating. New study reported in the Archives of Internal Medicine reports that Vitamin D might be a key nutrient to help you lose weight.Widespread survey data is also indicating higher weight among groups of people with lower Vitamin D levels, that helps to regulate hormones that are effective for managing weight, thyroid, the body's natural fat burning ability and more. Vitamin D is an important nutrient required in the body for proper functioning of every cell. Special receptors for vitamin D signal whether you should burn fat or simply store it; when vitamin D plugs into these receptors, it's like a key that revs your body's flab-melting mechanism.
Daily recommended requirement for Vitamin-D is 600 IU-700 IU till the age of 70 years. This can be obtained from exposure to sunlight for 10-15 minutes daily.
Vitamin D deficiency has been shown to be a factor in the accumulation of excess body fat. In the absence of sufficient vitamin D the body increases the number and size of newly formed fat cells that promote and accelerate abdominal obesity. Also, Vitamin D in conjunction with calcium helps to properly assimilate food and regulate normal blood sugar levels. When there is a lack of calcium, often times due to a vitamin D deficiency, the body increases production of synthase, a fatty acid enzyme that coverts calories into fat. Calcium deficiency can cause increase in synthase production explaining the correlation between low levels of vitamin D and obesity.
Vitamin D is also a pro-hormone that becomes activated in the kidneys to become a potent hormone that controls the growth of cells. In the absence of sufficient circulating levels of the active form, both adipocytes and cancer cells are allowed to multiply relatively unchecked.Sufficient levels of vitamin D signal fat cells to shrink. This makes weight loss much easier when calories are restricted and also might keep cancer cell growth in check. Regulating vitamin D intake can help your body burn abdominal fat and lose weight. Ensure you have enough of this critical nutrient circulating in your blood to promote good health and natural weight loss diet.
Vitamin D Sources
The main Vitamin D source is sunlight. Human skin has special precursor 7-dehydrocholesterol which converts UV sun rays to Vitamin D and supply approximately 90% of dietary requirement. But nowadays because of less exposure to sunlight and use of sunscreen inhibit the production of vitamin D in body. Sunscreen can inhibit the production of vitamin D by 90-99% depending upon SPF of the cream. Another reason for Vitamin D deficiency is air pollution which can trap some of the UVB rays, so less of them are able to reach your skin at any time of day.
Apart from sunlight the main Vitamin D food sources are milk & dairy products, eggs (yolk), cod liver oil, salmon, tuna, mackerel. For those on dairy free, vegetarian diets might need to supplement with fish oil supplements. To increase your vitamin D intake include vitamin D rich food in your snack time. For example, you can include plain buttermilk with any fruit or small handful of nuts in between your meal.