Getting rid of body fat is a common goal for many people all over the world. Those six pack abs are constantly on our minds, especially when its so hard in today’s society to be active and maintain a healthy diet. Every time we sit down for a meal, we remember the extra few pounds lingering around our middle.
If you’re one of the many trying to drop a few pounds, keeping track of your vitamin D intake may be more helpful along your journey than you may have thought.
What is Vitamin D?
It can be hard to differentiate one vitamin from another, but vitamin D definitely has its own unique qualities to set it apart from the others.
For starters, it is generally known as the “sunshine vitamin” because your best bet for obtaining this vitamin is to sit out in the sun on a bright day. That’s right! When ultraviolet rays from the sunlight hit your skin they trigger your body to produce vitamin D.
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Some foods such as fish, cheese, and eggs also contain a natural source of vitamin D, but the amount is quite small compared to what you can receive just from spending some time in the sunshine.
Vitamin D promotes calcium absorption in the gut and is extremely important for bone growth. It can also help modulate cell growth, neuromuscular function, immune function, and inflammation reduction.
How Vitamin D Deficiency Relates To Belly Fat
A vitamin D deficiency has many negative affects. The most common danger is a weakening of the bones, which can lead to osteoporosis. There are other risks which are heightened as well in those who are vitamin D deficient such as cancer, heart disease, hypertension, depression, influenza, cognitive impairment, and obesity.
Recently, researchers are putting more focus on vitamin D deficiency, who is at risk for having a deficiency, and how to prevent it. It was previously found that those who are obese will need a larger daily intake of vitamin D in order to achieve the same results as those of normal weight. Rachida Rafiq and her team of researchers decided to dig deeper into this relationship between vitamin D and obesity.
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Rafiq used information from the Netherlands Epidemiology of Obesity study, which linked higher levels of abdominal fat to low vitamin D levels among obese men and women. The team placed a focus on total fat, belly fat underneath the skin (abdominal subcutaneous adipose tissue), fat around the organs (visceral adipose tissue), and fat in the liver (hepatic fat).
Rafiq’s team discovered that total fat, especially abdominal fat, was associated with low levels of vitamin D in women. While in men, there was a stronger association between liver and abdominal fat with low levels of vitamin D. Across the board however, there was an outstanding link between belly fat and vitamin D deficiency.
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Although more study and research is needed to determine whether low vitamin D causes an increase in belly fat, or excess belly fat triggers a drop in vitamin D levels, the relationship between the two is certain.
A Daily Dose Of Sunshine
The bottom line is, getting more sunshine can do wonders for your figure. You may be surprised to hear that 40% of the United States population and 50% of everyone worldwide is deficient in vitamin D! So don’t let a day go without spending a good amount of time outside in the sun, soaking up this important vitamin!
*Article originally appeared at Healthy Holistic Living.
Jenna Barrington: Jenna is a writer, entrepreneur and the CEO of The Hired Pen. She has been working as a freelance writer and blog manager for many years. Jenna has a degree in Nutritional Health Counseling and extensive training as a copywriter and in search engine optimization. She has always had a passion for writing and loves to create space for people to express their passions, inner thoughts and voices through the written word. Jenna is dedicated to providing audiences around the world with high-quality content that is research-based, well thought out and designed to create positive impact. When she is not writing, Jenna loves spending time with her daughter and their golden retriever exploring the outdoors, eating at Asian restaurants, doing martial arts, or drinking milkshakes while watching comedies. If you want to reach Jenna personally you can email her at jenna.barrington27@gmail.com.
