Obesity May Cause Lower Levels of Vitamin D, Say British Researchers

Online, February 15, 2013 (Newswire.com) - A recent study from British researchers at the University College London Institute of Child Health (ICH) has suggested that obesity causes low vitamin D, not the other way around as previously thought. They concluded that reducing obesity, not supplementation for the obese, should help reduce the current worldwide level of vitamin D deficiency.

After analyzing almost 42,000 adults in 21 different groups, the researchers looked at the relationship between body mass index (BMI) and genes with a role in vitamin D production and metabolism. The link between BMI and vitamin D was also confirmed with data from another group of more than 123,000 people.

The researchers found that a 10 percent increase in BMI was associated with a four percent drop in vitamin D levels. They determined that higher BMI will result in lower levels of available vitamin D but that a lack of vitamin D has very little effect on BMI. The researchers suspect that obese individuals have a greater capacity to store vitamin D in their fat than leaner counterparts and as a result, they end up with lower available concentrations of the vitamin their bodies.

"Many prior studies have established a link between low vitamin D levels and obesity, with most assuming that low vitamin D levels might be a contributing cause of obesity," say boomer generation health experts Dian Griesel, Ph.D., and Tom Griesel, authors of the books TurboCharged: Accelerate Your Fat Burning Metabolism, Get Lean Fast and Leave Diet and Exercise Rules in the Dust (April 2011, BSH) and The TurboCharged Mind (January 2012, BSH).

"In last few years, vitamin D has become a top health news topic," adds Tom. "New studies like this one are highlighting the importance of adequate levels of vitamin D and linking low levels to various chronic diseases. Although vitamin D is a nutrient most often associated with maintaining strong bones, it is also used by muscles, nerves, and the immune system."

"Excess fat and obesity definitely has an adverse effect on our physiology and has now been conclusively linked with an increased risk of various chronic diseases, including the most common ones," says Dian. "Supplementation is not the answer and will not miraculously melt away your excess fat. However, proper diet and lifestyle modifications can reverse the damage."

For more information, please visit http://turbocharged.us.com