Lee Swanson Research Update

Vitamin D May Boost Heart Health During Weight Loss

May 2009

Supplements of vitamin D may improve cardiovascular health during weight-loss, without impacting on how many pounds are shed, a new study suggests.

Writing in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, German researchers report that a daily dose of 83 mcg of vitamin D showed lower levels on triglycerides and markers of inflammation like tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha).

"The results indicate that a vitamin D supplement of 83 mcg per day does not adversely affect weight-loss and is able to significantly improve several cardiovascular disease risk markers in overweight subjects with inadequate vitamin D status participating in a weight-reduction program," wrote the authors, led by Armin Zittermann from the Clinic for Thorax and Cardiovascular Surgery in Bad Oeynhausen.

With obesity rates still high—not only in developed countries but also, increasingly, in newly wealthy emerging markets, there is considerable attention to ways to trim down waistlines. The results of the new randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial indicate that vitamin D supplements may be useful as a means of boosting heart health during weight-loss.

While our bodies do manufacture vitamin D on exposure to sunshine, the levels in some northern countries are so weak during the winter months that our body makes no vitamin D at all, meaning that dietary supplements and fortified foods are seen by many as the best way to boost intakes of vitamin D.

Zittermann and his co-workers recruited 200 healthy overweight people with average 25(OH)D levels of 30 nmol/L (12 ng/mL) and randomly assigned them to receive either placebo or vitamin D for one year. All the subjects also participated in a weight-reduction program.

At the end of the study, 25(OH)D levels increased in the D group by 55.5 nmol/L, but by only 11.8 nmol/L in the placebo group. Furthermore, a 26.5% reduction in levels of parathyroid hormone (PTH) were observed in the D group, compared with a 3.0 percent increase in the placebo group. Finally, levels of the marker of inflammation TNF-alpha decreased by 10.2% following vitamin D supplementation, compared with 3.2 percent in the placebo group.

"The beneficial biochemical effects were independent of the loss in body weight, fat mass and sex," noted the researchers.

American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 89(5):1321-1327, 2009

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